A hard day’s Knight

HEATHER KNIGHT claimed England were robbed of a chance to reach the T20 World Cup final after a Sydney washout.

England went out without a ball being bowled in the semifinal against India due to torrential rain.

Instead of the ICC factoring in autumnal storms and booking a reserve day, the 2009 winners were eliminated because of their secondplace finish in the group stage. Skipper Knight, below, felt the dream to play in front of 90,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was stolen from her team. “There was no chance of us getting out there,” she said. “We didn’t have a chance to fight for a place in that final. You put in a lot of hard work, you want to have the chance to showcase your skills, show you can perform on the biggest stage.”

ON THIS DATE IN SPORTING HISTORY

1869: Ernest Michaux of France won the first international cycle race, held at Crystal Palace. 1962: Accrington Stanley were forced to withdraw from the Football League with 13 matches remaining in the season, due to financial problems.

1971: American-born driver Mario Andretti claimed the first of his 12 F1 grand prix wins, driving a Ferrari to victory in South Africa. 1976: Wilfredo Benitez of Puerto Rico became the youngest world boxing champion aged 17 years and 176 days when he beat Antonio Cervantes to win the WBA junior-welterweight title in San Juan.

2004: World champions England crashed to a shock 19-13 defeat to Ireland, which ended their 22-game unbeaten run at Twickenham. 2006: Sunderland sacked manager Mick McCarthy, with the club bottom of the Premier League.