Match-winners Arran Brindle and Lydia Greenway championed England’s victory in the first one-day internationalof the Ashes, yet insisted now is not the time to start underestimating Australia.
The tourists could not have wished for a better start to the defence of their crown, following up a win in the sole Test with another in Melbourne.
The upshot is Charlotte Edwards’ side being a triumph away, with two ODIs and three Twenty20s remaining, from retaining the urn.
“It was a fantastic win,” Brindle told ecb.co.uk. “We set out to put a mark on the table for the one-day series and we obviously managed to do that today.
“We take one game at a time. We’ve won today and put a good marker down that we will chase most things.
“I don’t think you would underestimate the Australians at any point. They obviously want to come back, win every game and win the Ashes.
“Until we get those points on the board to secure the Ashes... but, even then, we do not want to take our foot of the gas either.
“We have come out here to play some good cricket and that means winning as many games as possible.”
Greenway added: “It is really pleasing that we got the win today but, in general, we’re not going to underestimate the Australian team.
“We have still got a job to do and we’ll be refocussing again over the next couple of days and looking forward to Thursday.”
Today’s win was built upon a sublime, unbroken 142-run stand between Brindle and Greenway – who joined forces with England 68 for three chasing 210 to win.
“It gave us an opportunity to build a partnership and get ourselves in,” said Brindle. “We saw from their innings that if you spent a bit of time at the crease, it seemed to get a little easier.
“I’ve had a lot of time batting with Lydia and we’re very similar.”
They were aided, too, by Edwards’ quick 41 that put England on their way.
“It was tricky out there and that was the start we needed,” said Greenway. “For Charlotte to bat the way she did was really pleasing for us.
“That set us the platform, which allowed Arran and I to get ourselves in.”
Click here for images of England's win.
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