Women's Ashes 2017: Sarah Taylor and Heather Knight impress in warm-up draw

Sarah Taylor has scored 266 runs in eight Test appearances for England

England could not take Cricket Australia XI's last three wickets in order to win their three-day Women's Ashes warm-up at Blacktown, Sydney.

Sarah Taylor (85) starred with the bat as England, resuming on 87-3, set the home side 265 to win in 42 overs.

The hosts were in a good position at 149-3 but lost five wickets in eight overs, with captain Heather Knight taking 3-12 from her three.

Molly Strano and Lauren Smith saw off the final 13 balls to secure the draw.

England posted 305-7 in their second innings, with Taylor hitting 13 boundaries in her 145-ball effort.

She received handy support from the middle order, with Natalie Sciver (42), Fran Wilson (45) and Katherine Brunt (43 not out) scoring at a good pace.

• Women's Ashes schedule

Brunt, who starred with the ball in the first innings, did not bowl in the second, with seamer Kate Cross (1-24) dismissing opener Sophie Molineux as England got used to the pink ball.

"The pink ball swings a little bit early on, then goes quite soft and doesn't swing much," captain Knight said.

The four-day Women's Ashes Test begins on 9 November.

Australia, who lead the multi-format points-based series 4-2 after winning two of the three ODIs, need eight points to retain the Ashes.

Four points are available for the Test, while the three Twenty20s that follow are worth two points apiece.

"Hopefully with that last win in the ODIs it gives us a little bit of a shift in momentum and obviously gets us back into the tour," Knight added.

"If we can get those four points we'll be set up very nicely."