‘I know the girls are up for it’ - Sophie Ecclestone feels confident ahead of second WT20I against Australia

The Women’s Ashes 2023 has not gone England’s way so far; after losing the only Test of the series, the hosts lost the first WT20I of the three-match series as well. England currently trail by 6-0 in the Women’s Ashes, and the Heather Knight-led side would be keen on improving rapidly on their performances in the forthcoming matches. 

Ahead of their much-awaited clash at The Oval in London on Wednesday, July 5, star left-arm off spinner Sophie Ecclestone has come forward to reflect on how confident England feel ahead of the game despite back-to-back losses in the ongoing series.

"We're really not far away [from Australia],Obviously they're a great team, but we're competing with them a lot. We know what we need to do and I know the girls are up for it. We're really confident going into [Wednesday]. Hopefully we can pull it off and put on a big show in front of a big crowd," Ecclestone told reporters ahead of the second WT20I as quoted by Sky Sports.

 "We know it's going to be a really hard task to beat the Aussies five out of five. But we're just trying to look ahead to [Wednesday]. We've got a game of cricket to play and we've got to take it one win at a time," she added.

Australia on a roll in ongoing series

Talking about the first WT20I, England came into bat first after losing the toss. Sophia Dunkley provided England with a really good start as she opened the innings with a score of 56 runs in 49 deliveries. Furthermore, with Amy Jones’ unbeaten knock of 40 runs, the hosts posted 153 runs on the board for Australia to chase. 

However, the visitors came in all guns blazing and put together a magnificent performance with the bat. Beth Mooney scored 61 runs in 47 balls, Tahlia McGrath scored 40 runs in 29 deliveries, and through Ashleigh Gardner’s knock of 31 runs, Australia won the game comfortably by four wickets.