England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt was relieved to get over the line after a jittery start but admitted she would have preferred a more convincing finish as her side chased down a modest target against Bangladesh in their Women’s World Cup match here on Tuesday.
Former captain Heather Knight dug deep into her reservoir of experience to score a match-winning half-century and guide England to a four-wicket win over a spirited Bangladesh.
England produced a disciplined bowling performance to dismiss Bangladesh for 178 and then achieved the target, scoring 182 for 6 in 46.1 overs with Knight top-scoring with an unbeaten 79.
“We did what we had to do to get over the line. It could have looked a bit better, but we’re really happy to be on the winning side,” Sciver-Brunt said during the post-match presentation.
“Charlie (Dean) coming in at that number 8, obviously the last wicket partnership was very crucial for us, and I think that the calmness that they showed in obviously quite a high pressure situation was brilliant, we would have liked to have done it a few less wickets down, but I suppose that’s the way it went in the end.” Sciver-Brunt was contended with the performance of her bowling unit.
“Yeah, definitely (happy bowling them out for 178). Pretty early on I felt that seam was a little bit easier to hit, the overs from (Alice) Capsey were important, we’ve got three frontline spinners, but Capsey to come and bowl some important overs was needed. I thought it was really valuable, we were really happy to keep them to that score,” she said.
“We are pretty lucky that we’ve got Lindsey Smith who could definitely bowl at the death. Yeah, maybe something for me to think about, we’ll see if with the lights coming on towards the end of the innings probably makes that wicket a little bit more zippy, so maybe bring Lauren Bell back next time.” Sciver-Brunt also praised Knight for her match-winning effort.
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“Almost walked off a couple of times, so for her (Knight) to be able to switch on and read the game really well and know what she needed to do for the team, she is brilliant to have her back,” she said.
Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana felt they were 20-30 runs short of what would have been a winning score.
“It was an incredible game. How we fought till the last ball was incredible. We lost a couple of wickets and there was a partnership, but we needed one of the set batters to bat till the end. We were short by 20-30 runs,” Sultana said.
Middle-order batter Knight, who steered England’s chase, said the conditions were not the easiest and also praised the Bangladesh bowlers for their spirited show.
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“Wasn’t easiest of conditions. Good bowling attack. Quite skillful. We made it a little bit for ourselves. Got a partnership at the end. Wasn’t easy to start. Tried to get through the phase at the start. Was a little tricky,” she said.
“Akhter is a very good bowler. Gets that late swing. Threatens the front pad. Luckily got some reprieves. I thought it carried. The TV umpire decided.” She also lauded Charlie Dean (27 not out) for giving her support from the other end to get home eventually.
“Charlie played well. Got that little partnership. We knew one partnership just was needed to get the bulk of the runs. She works very hard on her batting. Batted so much after a while. Happy to do so,” Knight said.
