Following her side’s 11-run win over India in their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Group 2 match, England skipper Heather Knight lauded Nat-Sciver Brunt and Amy Jones for their performances with the bat and expressed happiness with her team’s batting depth.
England registered an 11-run win against India, keeping a clean sheet against the Women in Blue at T20 World Cups, in a Group B clash at St George’s Park on Saturday.
“We talk a lot about trying to fit our mindset to the conditions and that partnership between myself and Nat was the key. Nat steadied the innings really well and then Amy was outstanding. It shows our batting depth, even after losing three wickets it does not matter, we can put up a score,” said Knight in a post-match presentation.
“Renuka Thakur was outstanding and was nipping the ball both ways, but keeping a positive mindset helps to manipulate the field. We haven’t played against a big team recently and to go out and play like that was really good. There are a lot of people in form; Sophie and Sarah were excellent with the ball. Now we will look to top the group. Our ground fielding was outstanding and the best so far. We dropped a couple of catches but that can happen in these big games,” added the skipper.
Coming to the match, put into bat first by India, a fiery spell by Renuka reduced England to 29/3.
Knocks from Nat Sciver Brunt (50 off 42 balls), wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones (40 off 27 balls) and skipper Heather Knight (28 off 23 balls) helped England recover and put up a fighting total of 151/7.
Renuka was top-notch with the ball, taking 5/15 in her four overs. Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma took a wicket apiece.
Chasing 152, India were 62/3 in 10.2 overs. Smriti Mandhana (52 off 47 balls) and wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh (47* off 34 balls) tried to take India across the line, but failed in the face of disciplined English bowling.
Sarah Glenn was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2/27 in four overs. Sophie Ecclestone and Lauren Bell took a wicket each.
With this win, England is at the top of Group two with three wins in three matches and six points. India is at the second position with two wins in three matches and a total of four points.
Nat-Sciver won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for her fifty.
Brief Score: India 140/5 (Smriti Mandhana 52, Richa Ghosh 47*; Sarah Glenn 2-27) vs England 151/7 (Nat Sciver Brunt 50, Amy Jones 40; Renuka Singh 5-15) (ANI)
