England eyes Ashes after cup victory
LONDON: England women’s captain Heather Knight has already set her sights on regaining the Ashes in Australia later this year after leading her team to World Cup success.
Knight’s side beat India by nine runs in a thrilling final showdown in front of a full house at Lord’s to secure a fourth title success.
After restricting England to 228 for seven, India was cruising towards a maiden World Cup triumph only to lose its last seven wickets for 28 runs as it slumped from an imposinglooking 191 for three to be all out for 219.
A stunning spell of bowling from Anya Shrubsole, who took six for 46, kickstarted the collapse and Knight hailed her side’s neversaydie mentality.
‘‘We knew we were in with a chance,’’ Knight said. ‘‘We’ve done it the hard way in this tournament which I guess makes it all the better’’.
Chasing 229 for victory, opener Punam Raut played fantastically to score 86 but her dismissal proved to be the turning point as India capitulated.
With Raut at the crease, India needed just more than a run a ball for victory but her dismissal when she was trapped lbw by Shrubsole appeared to send shockwaves through the team.
Sushma Verma was bowled around her legs by Alex Hartley for a secondball duck, with Vena Krishnamurthy following her back to the pavilion for 35 after holing out to Nat Sciver off Shrubsole.
Two more wickets followed in the same over as Jhulan Goswami was bowled first ball and Deepti Sharma found the hands of
Sciver again to depart for 14.
Shikha Pandey was then run out for four to leave India needing 10 runs from as many balls, but only one further run was added to its total as Shrubsole clean bowled Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
The Ashes series starts in Brisbane on October 22 with the first of three one day internationals. The daynight test at North Sydney Oval starts on November 9 and will be followed by three twenty20 internationals.
Knight believes the success under pressure is just the tonic her side needs before heading out to Australia.
‘‘We did feel it was slipping away a little bit at 190 for three. It’s been a theme of the tournament, us fighting hard and holding our nerve,’’ she said.
‘‘We’ve got a massive winter ahead, we’ve got the Ashes and it’s going to be a great contest.
‘‘You saw in that clash down at Bristol the sort of contest that those two teams can have.’’ — AAP