Knight was unbeaten on 137* at Stumps on Day 2. © Getty
Heather Knight waged a lone battle, en route her second Test century, to help England avoid the follow on and help the side reach 235 for 8 at the end of second day's play at the Manuka Oval after Australia had declared their innings on 337 for 9.

England pacer Katherine Brunt returned her third fifer when she dismissed the overnight batters Annabel Sutherland and Jess Jonassen early on Friday morning. While Sutherland was squared up and cleaned for 8, Jonassen chanced her hands outside off to give the wicketkeeper an easy catch.

England, however, couldn't take control of the contest. Their openers fell early to Australia's new-ball pair of Ellyse Perry and Darcie Brown, the latter taking her maiden Test wicket with the dismissal of Lauren Winfield-Hill.

While Knight looked assured through the course of the innings, she didn't find ample assistance from the other end, with wickets falling at regular intervals. Natalie Sciver and Sophia Dunkley fell to the disciplined bowling by the Australians, after settling in - scoring 15 each.

There weren't too many scoring shots available for the English batters, who had to dig deep with tight field settings and fresh bowlers in operation, with Meg Lanning having seven options at her disposal.

Legspinner Alana King was impressive on debut, troubling the English batters with her variations. However, she managed to pick only a solitary wicket - of Katherine Brunt who was pinged legbefore while trying to play off the backfoot. The other spinners - Gardner and Jonassen - didn't have much role to play on the day even as there was turn on offer, with the duo combining to bowl only 14 overs compared to King's 23. The on-field umpires, Eloise Sheridan and Michael Graham-Smith, both officiating in their maiden Test match, also had a good outing with seven of their eight decisions upheld so far.

Sutherland and Perry bagged a brace each to break the back of England's middle order. To put Knight's contribution into perspective, the second highest from England was No 10 Sophie Eccelstone's unbeaten 27, much of which came after England managed to avoid the follow on.

Australia were also largely clinical with their fielding, except the odd drop by Rachel Haynes at forward short leg, which she tried to juggle but couldn't hold on. The reprieve given to Charlotte Dean didn't matter much as the batter fell off the next delivery, top edging a sweep off Ash Gardner to Tahlia McGrath at deep square leg. At that point, England still needed 38 runs to avoid a follow on, with only two wickets remaining.

Perry, who limped while bowling the last over of the first spell, remained on the field and returned to bowl another over. She did put Knight in some trouble but couldn't dismiss the English skipper who went on score an unbeaten 127, which included 13 boundaries and a six. Her cover drives were among the most productive scoring shots. In the last session, Knight did have some nervy moments with Jess Jonassen failing to catch a tough return catch and an inside lobbing between the short mid wicket and mid on fielders.

One of Australia's issues though was that of overstepping - 11 times in the day. McGrath in particular had a tough time, overstepping five times in six overs.

Even as England have played the chase throughout their innings, the unbeaten 66-run stand between Knight and Eccelstone has brought down the deficit to 102 runs with two more days of play remaining.

Brief Scores: Australia 337/9 decl. (Meg Lanning 93, Rachel Haynes 86; Katherine Brunt 5-60, Nat Sciver 3-41) lead England 235/8 (Heather Knight 137*, Sophie Eccelstone 27; Ellyse Perry 2-35, Annabel Sutherland 2-52) by 102 runs