Captain Heather Knight insists England are ‘not far away’ from Australia as hosts retain Women’s Ashes

Heather Knight says England are ‘really not far away’ from Australia after her team’s hoping of regaining the Women’s Ashes were ended in Canberra.

England had to win all three of their one-day internationals against Australia to win back the Ashes after sharing a thrilling draw with Meg Lanning’s side in the sole Test match last week.

But England slipped to a 27-run defeat in the opening ODI as Australia’s seven-year hold of the Ashes continued. The hosts now lead the multi-format series 8-4 with two matches to play.

Knight’s side impressed with the ball after electing to field on Thursday afternoon and Katherine Brunt and Kate Cross shared six wickets to restrict Australia to 205-9.

It could have been worse for Australia, who were 67-4 and 152-7, but Beth Mooney just about held the innings together with an impressive 73 from 91 balls.

Despite Mooney’s innings, England were still favourites at the halfway stage but they collapsed with the bat to be bowled out for 178.

Only Nat Sciver (45) and Brunt (32 not out) troubled the hosts, who secured victory thanks to four wickets from Darcie Brown and two apiece from Megan Schutt, Jess Jonassen and Tahlia McGrath.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Australia retain the Ashes! Despite a valiant fight from Katherine Brunt and Kate Cross, a superb return catch from Jess Jonassen gives the hosts victory in Canberra ðð¦ðº#Ashes pic.twitter.com/k9SXnq1GQ7

England captain Knight said: ‘The way we bowled was outstanding, we were unlucky not to take more wickets.

‘We weren’t with the bat, they bowled pretty well but we just needed that one big partnership. In the three games we’ve played we have not had a complete performance with bat and ball.

‘We’re really not far away from Australia. We