Heather Knight urges England to be ‘braver with the bat’ after second ODI loss

England captain Heather Knight called for her side to be “braver with the bat” after they slumped to a second successive defeat in the Women’s Ashes.

A 21-run loss in the second one-day international in Melbourne means Australia enjoy a 4-0 lead in the multi-format series.

Sophie Ecclestone took four for 35 and Alice Capsey three for 22 as England bowled out Australia for 180 – the hosts having been 131 for two – but Kim Garth responded with three for 37 and leg-spinner Alana King took four for 25 as England were skittled for 159.

“It’s frustrating, I feel like it was there for the taking,” Knight told BBC Sport.

“Sophie and Alice bowled brilliantly. The wickets cost us. We need to be a bit braver with the bat.

“Amy [Jones, who made 47 not out] was great at keeping us in the game. She was trying to face the majority of the balls and picking up boundaries when she could.

“It’s obviously frustrating. Amy got us close but unfortunately just not close enough. We just need to do a few things better in a few areas.”

Capsey admitted England will need to regroup quickly ahead of the next game on Thursday, having recovered from a bigger deficit to draw the last series in 2023.

“We’re four down but last time we were six down. We’ve got so much more time to regroup and get better,” Capsey said.

“It’s not the best start to our campaign but at the same time we’ve shown glimpses of what we can do so far. All it took was one partnership to get us over the line but we couldn’t do that.”

Australia skipper Alyssa Healy was delighted with her team’s performance.

“A tremendous game of cricket,” Healy told BBC Sport. “To take it as deep as we could was a serious effort from our girls.

“I think that was one of the best wins I’ve been a part of. I think I said I’d rather lose with them eight down in the 35th over trying to bowl them out than take it to the 49th over so a bit ridiculous!

“I thought our bowlers did an outstanding job and there was enough in the wicket all day, even right at the back end with Lauren Bell’s dismissal. We did an amazing job of creating pressure and holding chances when they came our way. We got the job done.

“But we move on. There’s still a lot of games left in this Ashes series. We go on to Hobart and hopefully put on a more complete display. We’re still unbeaten at the Junction Oval which is awesome.”