Final defeat for Knight
SKIPPER Heather Knight admitted England were outplayed in their eightwicket defeat by Australia in the Women’s World T20 final in Antigua.
England were always up against it after being bowled out for 105 in 19.4 overs.
Danielle Wyatt top-scored with 44 off 37 balls while Knight, with 25, was the only other England player to reach double figures.
Australia had little trouble reaching that target with 29 balls to spare.
“We probably didn’t quite adapt to conditions as well as we could have,” said Knight. “Obviously Australia were the better team on the day, and congratulations to them.”
Defending such a small total was a daunting task but Knight said: “You have to believe that you are still in the game.
“The girls fought so hard all tournament, so we knew that wasn’t going to be the issue, but we needed early wickets.
“I think when you lose a game that convincingly, it’s not as hard to take.
“We were just outplayed. We didn’t bring our best game. But we’ve got to take the good from this tournament and I couldn’t be more proud of how the girls have fought, the character.
“But we didn’t have enough on the pitch today to make it there. We’ll let it sink in a little bit, reflect and then make a plan.”
Australia captain Meg Lanning said the victory made up for defeat in the same tournament in 2016 and the World Cup last year.
“We had to change a few things, move things forward, play a little differently, so it’s very satisfying,” she said.