An emotional England captain Heather Knight admitted she was fighting back the tears following her side’s latest defeat which leaves Australia on course for an unprecedented 16-0 Ashes clean sweep.

England slumped to a 72-run loss in the third and final T20 at the Adelaide Oval to trail Australia 12-0 with one Test match to follow at the MCG next week.

Beth Mooney scored a brilliant 94 as England were set a target of 163, but they were reduced to 39 for five and then dismissed for just 90 runs, with only captain Knight (40) and Danni Wyatt-Hodge (17) making double figures.

Asked how she was feeling after her side’s latest setback, Knight told BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra: “I am trying not to cry, you always try to do that. I am gutted. It has been a disappointing tour.

“I am frustrated and it was not a great performance. We felt it was a total we could chase, but the wickets cost us and we were not able to get any sort of momentum.

“We have competed at times (during the series) and fought hard, but it has been a brutal tour so far and we need to learn and be better and remember these moments to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

In terms of runs, the defeat marked England’s second heaviest in the T20 format. Knight’s side will now travel from Adelaide to Melbourne for a one-off Test in the hope of avoiding an embarrassing whitewash.

Knight continued: “We will keep fighting and we need to draw a line under the white-ball stuff and concentrate on the Test match. We will view it as a one-off match to get something from this Tour.”

Asked about the prospect of a clean sweep, Australia’s stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath said: “The next game is going to be a big challenge for both teams, chucking on the whites, four days, different strategies and different tactics.

“But the MCG for a day-night match, since it was announced, has been a match that everyone has been really excited about.”