England all-rounder Natalie Sciver on Sunday said that her team is fighting really hard against Australia in the one-off Test of the ongoing Women' Ashes at the Cooper Associates County Ground.
Sciver said that England put in their hard work on the field and displayed their fighting spirit.
"We're trying our hardest out there. Losing a few wickets doesn't help things that dictate how we're to play going forward. But as a team, we fought really hard. It's going to be a fight tomorrow as well," cricket.com.au quoted Sciver, as saying at the end of play on day three.
Fighting fifties by Amy Jones and Sciver took England to 199 runs for the loss of six wickets at stumps on day three on Saturday. Despite England batters' efforts, the hosts fell 71 runs short of the follow-on mark. Debutant left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux rattled England's middle-order, forcing them to trail by 221 runs against Australia.
The all-rounder further said that they played positively but acknowledged and praised the Australian spinners. Sciver added that she is hopeful to put Australia back into bat and get their wickets.
"We didn't think too much about the score, the way we needed to play was positively. It's kind of gone the other way a bit because the pitch is doing a bit more and they've got some good spinners. But if we do get to a position where we can put Australia back in (on Sunday) we're got some world-class bowlers who'll be able to take some wickets," Sciver added.
The hosts need to win the only Test to earn four points that will keep them alive in the multi-format series else Australia, with six points ahead, will retain the Ashes. England are 71 runs short of the follow-on mark while Australia require to take 14 wickets to win the Test.
England at 199 runs for the loss of six wickets will resume their innings with Sciver and Anya Shrubsole on 62 and one, respectively, on day four later on Sunday.