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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

India vs England: Heather Knight relishing 'bucket-list' Test as tourists look to push the tempo

Heather Knight insists her England side will be ready to accelerate the game in pursuit of a first Test victory in almost a decade when they meet India from Thursday.

England last won a Test match away to Australia in January 2014, with Knight one of only three survivors in the current squad, but this week's will be only their ninth game in the format since.

Of the previous eight, five have ended in draws, and with the game in Mumbai set to be played over four days rather than five, Knight knows the onus could be on her team to up the ante.

"It depends how the game plays out," she said. "We might have to accelerate the game artificially a bit across four days, whereas over five it tends to play out naturally and you do get a result. With four, you potentially have to try and force it a little bit more.

"I'm desperate to win a Test match. It's been a long time since we've done that. Everything we're working towards is about how we want to play the game. If we look after that, hopefully we'll come out with a nice result."

Next year's home summer is due to be England's first without a Test match since the 2020 Covid-hit season, with New Zealand and Pakistan due to visit for white-ball-only series, and Knight says her team are particularly keen to savour this week's contest.

"We always feel when we're playing Test cricket we're playing for the format a little bit, because we don't play a lot of it," she said. "We want to make it exciting for people to watch. It is really special and it's bucket-list stuff to play a Test match in India."

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