Shining Knight stands apart

HEATHER KNIGHT kept England’s Ashes hopes just about alive with a magnificent century on another day of Australian domination in the women’s Test in Canberra. A familiar story unfolded of an England captain carrying their team, following Joe Root’s often single-handed batting rearguard against Australia this winter, as Knight made an unbeaten 127 in a score of 235 for eight. It left England still 102 behind at the end of the second of four days and running out of time if they are going to achieve the victory they desperately need, at 4-2 down in the multi-format series, to retain a realistic chance of their first Ashes success since 2014. That precarious situation would have been far worse had it not been for England’s captain, who was sublime in making her second Test century and first since 2013. England only avoided the follow-on when Sophie Ecclestone, making the next highest score with an unbeaten 27, joined Knight in an unbroken stand of 66 for the ninth wicket, after the tourists collapsed to 169 for eight. Katherine Brunt had earlier taken the only two Australian wickets to fall on the second day to end with five for 60, before home captain Meg Lanning — who top scored with 93, one of four half-centuries — declared her side’s innings on 337 for nine. ‘I’ve been around a long time and seen some brilliant hundreds but that was in the top three,’ said Brunt. ‘No-one else has played a significant innings and she took the whole world on her shoulders and dug extremely deep to put a score on the board for us.’