World Cup hosts coming to the boil, says Knight

England captain Heather Knight believes her side may be peaking at the right time as they seek the win that would secure them a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

A victory against New Zealand, one of five sides scrapping for places in the last four, at Derby today would take England through.

The last time England played at Derby they were beaten by India in the tournament opener but they have won four matches since then, including a thrilling three-run victory over defending champions Australia at Bristol on Sunday.

“You want to keep getting better and peak at the right time in tournament cricket. We seem to be doing that,” Knight said.

“We have had different contributors. Four of the top five have made hundreds and those are the big scores that really win you games.

“The bowlers are slowly starting to come good. It is going to be the bowling that really is going to make the difference in this competition. The batters seem to be scoring a lot faster and there seems to be depth in the line-up.”

After losing to India few would have tipped England as potential champions but Knight has been impressed with the way her players responded. “With that defeat, there were lot of positives. We took it deep and fought really hard, Fran Wilson especially,” she said.

“We have strength and depth. We have a lot of belief. We have been told that we lacked the resilience in the past, but we have more players taking ownership and there are more leaders in this team. People are putting their hands up.”

England’s resilience will be tested today as there has been little time for them to recover from beating Australia or to prepare for facing New Zealand.

“It is going to be a tough because emotionally and physically Sunday took a lot out of us,” added coach Mark Robinson.

“The turnaround is tight. We have the toughest schedule with the amount of travel, and that is going to test our resilience and mental fortitude to go again. But it is really important we do it again because we have got some momentum.”