Heather Knight keeps England's Ashes hopes alive

An unbeaten 75 from Heather Knight in what was England's highest successful run-chase helped the hosts inflict a third-consecutive defeat on Australia in the ongoing Ashes series and draw level with them on six points. Knight's effort eclipsed that of Beth Mooney (81 not out) as the home side completed the chase with 11 balls and two wickets to spare.

Though Australia lost captain Alyssa Healy in the first over - to Kate Cross - after she opted to bat first in Bristol, the visitors were immediately resurrected by the second-wicket stand worth 61 between Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse Perry. Once Nat Sciver-Brunt broke that stand in the 13th over with the wicket of the former, out came Beth Mooney to take charge of the innings. England were nervy on the field as catches went down and Mooney herself was a recipient of a couple of repreives (a dropped catch and a missed stumping), which she fully capitalised on.

The Bristol surface wasn't the easiest to bat on and runs didn't come by too easily, with Mooney taking 99 balls for her unbeaten 81 and Perry needing 51 for her 41, as well as three dropped catches. However, Australia were pushed forward by the cameos of Tahlia McGrath (24 off 36) and Ashleigh Gardner (21 off 24) before Jess Jonnassen added 30 off 39 to drag Australia to what appeared to a winning total.

Australia's 263/8 looked even more imposing when Sophia Dunkley was cleaned up by Perry in the third over of England's chase. But then came a whirlwind stand between Tammy Beaumont (47 off 42) and Alice Capsey (40 off 34) worth 74 runs off just 55 balls to set the ball rolling for England.

In the space of 3.1 overs however, England lost both the set batters and went through a brief stutter until captain Knight took control of the proceedings. She was still quickly running out of partners at the other end as Australia began to dig their heels after breaking the big stand. The hosts threatened to flip the chase around and retain the Ashes with two games to spare when England went from 103 for 1 in the 13th over to 163 for 4 in the 26th. Nat-Sciver Brunt's dismissal saw England stutter quite a bit as the likes of Danielle Wyatt, Amy Jones and Sophie Ecclestone came and went, much to the chagrin of their captain at the other end who was waging a lone battle.

However, from 235 for 8 when the chase was still within England's grasp, out walked Kate Cross to ensure her captain's 28th ODI fifty wouldn't come in a losing cause. She carted four boundaries in a breezy, unbeaten 19 off 20 balls and supported her captain in a stellar effort - 75* off 86 with six fours and a six - to take the team home at the start of the penultimate over.

After going 6-0 up with wins in the one-off Test and the opening T20I, Australia have now lost three successive limited-overs games worth two points each to leave the Women's Ashes tantilizingly poised with two ODIs to go.

Brief Scores: Australia 263/8 in 50 overs (Beth Mooney 81*, Ellyse Perry 41; Nat Sciver-Brunt 2-38, Lauren Bell 2-56) lost to England 267/8 in 48.1 overs (Heather Knight 75*, Tammy Beaumont 47; Ashleigh Gardner 3-42) by 2 wickets