Test cricket… like time, in the words of the celebrated mathematician Eric Temple Bell… makes fools of us all.

Everyone, that is, except Sophie Ecclestone; but her extraordinary efforts in this match will all have been for nothing, unless England’s late middle order can pull of the heist of the century tomorrow and snatch victory from what currently looks like the jaws of certain defeat, with 5 wickets down and 152 still required.

Test cricket certainly made a fool out of me, predicting yesterday that Australia would pile on the runs today and declare with the game out of sight of England. Instead England’s bowlers fought back, led by Ecclestone whose 10 wickets in the match bought her entry to a club almost as exclusive as the one Tammy Beaumont joined yesterday – just 11 other women have taken 10 or more wickets in a match; whilst 8 (including TB) have scored double-hundreds.

Ecclestone bowled 463 deliveries in this match – the most bowled by a woman in a Test match in the 21st century – taking 10 wickets for 192. And there was barely a dud ball in there either, until she threw down a full toss to Alyssa Healy 15 minutes into the final session. Healy was well set, having just brought up a half-century to silence the critics who were looking for her to make headlines with a record 4th straight duck in Test cricket, and she pounced, chipping it over the head of Emma Lamb, who somehow hauled it back and held on to the catch. Four balls later, Ecclestone trapped Darcie Brown LBW, and England had completed a cracking fight-back, leaving themselves chasing 268 for the win.

Of course, Ecclestone didn’t do it all by herself. Lauren Filer was billed as an “impact” bowler, and she certainly earned her match fee by bowling both Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath in quick succession – both were decent deliveries, putting pressure on the batter to play and forcing the mistake – that’s certainly “impact”! And there were 2 wickets too for Kate Cross, who was clearly struggling yesterday with fatigue, but bravely sent down another 13 overs today; and the ball that got Phoebe Litchfield was a bit of a Jaffa, though perhaps also a tad fortunate? (I’d lay money she couldn’t repeat it if she’d bowled another 100 overs.)

England’s chase of 268 was never going to be easy – it would be by some margin the highest run chase ever made in women’s Tests. But England have scored that many in ODIs on plenty of occasions of late, and it was only 25 more than they made when they almost chased the target Australia set them in the last Ashes Test at Manuka. With well in excess of 100 overs to get them, it definitely felt doable. If they could just make it through to the close unscathed, as Australia had done last night, that would be perfect and we’d be set for a cracking finish tomorrow.

But… well… Test cricket makes fools of us all, doesn’t it? And it absolutely did of England in the final session, as they proceeded to crack under the pressure. I really didn’t want to be writing anything negative this evening – I was determined that I’d be able to be positive after the bowlers had brought them back into it. But I can’t – they bojangled it up good and proper!

Ash Gardner said in the press conference yesterday that spin would be crucial in the final innings, and she called it right, ripping the heart out of England’s batting order with the wickets of Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt. If you’d asked Australia what 3 wickets they really wanted in that evening session, those would have been the three. Getting Lamb and Dunkley as well was just a bonus; and it is really just Amy Jones to come now before Australia are into the tail. (Yes – Ecclestone can give it a whack in white ball cricket, but she’s a tailender here.)

England fans might feel hard done by, having seen DRS go to “Umpire’s Call” on the Knight and Lamb LBWs; but at the end of the day, Sue Redfern and Anna Harris made the right decisions – Lamb’s was (just) hitting; and Knight’s did strike her (just) in line. I’m not a big fan of “Umpire’s Call” – I think if it is hitting, it is hitting – but the important point here is that it was hitting, and you can’t really argue with that.

Is there any hope for England tomorrow? With BBC’s weather forecast saying 0% chance of rain, and 90 overs available, it ain’t gonna be a draw. So England need a miracle, and it could happen… but it feels like a very, very, very long shot.