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Louise Thomas
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Skipper Heather Knight has warned that England Women’s T20 World Cup campaign may not always be “sexy” as they wrestle with the conditions in the United Arab Emirates.
Knight’s side launched their bid for glory with a 21-run Group B victory over Bangladesh on a tricky pitch in Sharjah, where the slow outfield compounded the problems for batters.
England were restricted to 118 for seven having won the toss and elected to bat, but while Knight admitted there was room for improvement, she was happy with that total at the halfway stage.
She told Sky Sports: “It wasn’t far off par but I think if we push up to about 135, 140, that’s going to be a really good score if we get on that type of wicket again.
“It was what we prepared for but we’ve just got to find a way to do it sometimes.
“It’s not going to be beautiful and it’s not going to be sexy all the time and if we do get these conditions again, we’re going to have to graft a little bit and try to minimise the dot-balls because boundaries are going to be really hard to hit.
“But having said that, I was pretty happy with the score. I knew it as going to be a really hard total. You saw in our innings, it got lower and slower as it went on.”
Openers Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Maia Bouchier put on 48 for the first wicket before Bouchier fell to the fourth ball of the seventh over for 23, and it was Wyatt-Hodge who held the innings together with a 40-ball 41.
However, the Bangladeshi bowlers gradually applied the brakes and England were grateful to Sophie Ecclestone, who dispatched the penultimate delivery for six and ran two off the last for a late injection.
Bangladesh never really got going as they attempted to chase down 119, losing openers Dilara Akter and Shathi Rani with only 17 on the board and then seeing skipper Nigar Sultana Joty run out for 15 courtesy of a fine throw from Linsey Smith, who returned figures of two for 11 from her four overs as the innings ended on 97 for seven.
Knight said: “Linsey Smith, I’m really happy for her after. Six years since her last World Cup game to come in and put in the sort of performance that she did, I was really pleased for her.”
England are likely to face a tougher test when they meet South Africa in Sharjah on Monday, when Knight knows they will have to fight fire with fire.
She said: “They had a convincing win the other night, didn’t they? They batted really well. They’re always competitive, they always bring that fire and passion, so we’re going to have to play really well. They’ve got some world-class players.”
