TWO OF the most influential players of yesterday’s second Ashes ODI spoke to the waiting media after one of the most chaotic matches in recent Women’s Ashes history.  

For Alana King, who spun the game on its head with a Player of the Match performance, the result marked an almighty escape for her and her Australian teammates.

After the match, she spoke on the satisfaction that defending a relatively modest batting total brought the group, helped greatly by her 4-13 off 10 overs.

“We knew we were subpar when we walked off in the first innings and we knew it was going to take a little bit of grit to start well,” she said. “[I was] pretty stoked [with] the way ‘Kimmy’ (Kim Garth) started.

“She had the ball on the string and has had for the last two ODIs. We knew we just needed to build some partnerships with both ends, tie them down. They’re going to come out and play some pretty positive cricket and aggressive cricket, so we just have to keep our plans really simple.”

While spin had worked so well for England in the first innings, Australia stuck with their seamers until Ash Gardner was brought on to bowl the 12th over.

Although King could not specifically outline why it took the Aussies so long to turn to spin, she did explain some of the team’s thinking.

“I just get told when I’m bowling and I’ll happily take the ball whenever I get the chance to, so I don’t think there’s too much strategy behind that,” King explained.

“I think we see matchups more than anything rather than phases of the game. So Ash got the ball in her hand and really tied down one end and drew that wicket of Heather Knight, which opened up the game for us a little bit.”

In complete contradiction to King, the disappointment in the result was clear on the face of England’s Alice Capsey as she spoke post match.

“Obviously pretty disappointed. It is a game that we got ourselves into a position and we let go,” Capsey said. “It’s one of those, we’ve missed a real opportunity to get two points on the board.

“I think there’ll be severe disappointment within the group. But at the same time, we know that the end result is getting 10 points on the board. We’re 4-0 down but at the same time, we’ve still got so many opportunities over the next two to three weeks to get those 10 points, and I think there’ll be a lot of reflection over the next couple of days before we get to Hobart.”

Despite the frustrations of the overall result, Capsey was pleased with her own bowling efforts, which saw her pick up three wickets.

“It was really pleasing to get an opportunity with the ball,” Capsey said.

“When I come on my role is pretty simple, it’s just to try and deliver my best ball as much as possible. I don’t bowl a huge amount for England, so when I do get the opportunity, for me it’s a really exciting opportunity to try and take it with both hands.

“I was really happy with how it’s been coming out recently. Obviously having a bit of success during the Big Bash, especially with my confidence with my bowling, it’s pretty high at the moment.”