'I feel more sad than I do happy at the minute' - Natalie Sciver after drawn Ashes Test match

The Women’s Ashes Test turned out to be an absolute cracker of a contest. While both the sides had a chance to win the game at several points, the Test finally ended in a thrilling draw on Sunday. After a declaration from Australia, England had to chase 257 in 48 overs in the fourth innings in order to win the Test.

As a matter of fact, they were 218 for three during the 40th over and looked like they could win the match. However, Natalie Sciver’s wicket then went on to trigger a collapse. The Knight-led side were then reduced to 244 for nine and thus, had to settle for a draw.

England finally managed to score 245, and were 12 runs short of the target. However, despite the game being a draw, Sciver was more “sad than happy”. She was hopeful of the fact that her side could take some positives from the game.

Test match cricket can be very emotionally draining and tiring: Natalie Sciver

“Test match cricket can be very emotionally draining and tiring, but then when it comes down to that and you’ve got a chance to win… Unfortunately, I feel more sad than I do happy at the minute. We’ll be able to reflect on it and hopefully be able to take the positives from today, because we batted so well to get ourselves into that position. It felt like we were just going to get over the line but unfortunately we weren’t able to. But then, obviously, saving it became very important,” said Natalie Sciver after the completion of the match.

The all-rounder then spoke about England’s plan after the Aussies declared in the third innings. She said they were looking to score six to seven runs in every over after the Tea break. The 29-year-old then mentioned the fact that her side got into a really good position.

“At the start (of the innings) we talked about just playing and seeing where we get to at tea, being positive, being busy. Everyday we’ve seen people get in and score very quickly on the wicket. So that was the plan really. After tea, we said more of the same and just breaking it down into each over, if we can get five-six runs each over, then we’re in a good position, keep doing that and see where we get to. We got into a great position, but couldn’t quite get over the line in the end,” she added.