Heather Knight answered the questions around her place in emphatic style at Taunton, finishing unbeaten on 70 as England beat India by six wickets to clinch the deciding women’s T20 international and wrap up the series 2-1.
England reached 184-4 in 18.3 overs after Alice Capsey and Knight put together the key stand, and the chase ended with enough control to leave the hosts with a series win that will sit neatly inside their World Cup build-up. Charlie Dean said the side took on the power play well and praised the partnership between Capsey and Knight, with England sharp enough in the field to back up the batting.
For Knight, the innings landed with more than just runs on the board. She said the more people wrote her off, the better it felt, adding that every time she was pushed out of the conversation she felt an innings like this was waiting around the corner. Capsey, meanwhile, said she had used her feet, aimed straight and kept things simple on a pitch that came on nicely, watching how India went about their work and taking value from hitting in the V.
The result gives England a 2-1 series win over India and another competitive outing before the World Cup starts, but it does not settle everything for the home side. They are close to their final team, yet selection questions remain and they are still missing their No 1 and No 3 batters in the series, which keeps some uncertainty around the balance they will take into the tournament.
England and India are due to meet again in a warm-up game next Wednesday, before England face Australia on Monday and then open the World Cup against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston at 6.30pm on Friday week. The most immediate answer from Taunton is that Knight is still capable of steering England through a big chase; the next one is whether England’s final XI is ready to match that performance when the tournament begins.
