England yet to hit peak form: Knight
bristol — Captain Heather Knight said England are yet to reach their best in the Women’s World Cup, despite beating South Africa by two wickets at Bristol on Tuesday to reach the final.
Sarah Taylor top-scored for England with a 76-ball 54 as South Africa fought back hard in the latter stages to take the semifinal down to the closing over in their attempt of defending 218.
Two-time World Cup winners England will find out who they play in Sunday’s sold-out final at Lord’s when reigning champions Australia take on India at Derby on Thursday. “We haven’t put in the perfect performance together,” Knight said afterwards, acknowledging there were areas England needed to improve in ahead of the final.
“The wicket was used and quite tired, so we were quite smart with our bowling. Potentially in the field there’s a few extra runs in a close match like that that plays on your mind as it gets close. It’s not ideal that one of the top five didn’t bat through and be there at the end. It would have made it a lot easier.
“There’s still one game to go and if we put our perfect performance in then I’ll be a very happy captain.”
But Knight admitted England could now allow themselves to think about playing at the ‘home of cricket’. “It’s special,” Knight added, reflecting on England reaching their seventh World Cup final. “We’ve known that the final is at Lord’s for a long time now and, trying not to think about it too much. A final at Lord’s at a home World Cup, sold out, there’s nothing better than that for me.” —