Women’s WC: Had pretty rubbish year, I was keen make the most of the opportunities here, says Heather Knight

Indore, Oct 20 One could sense the immense joy and satisfaction in Heather Knight’s tone when she arrived in the press conference room on the back of hitting a match-defining century against India in a tight four-run win for England at the Holkar Stadium.

Heather had all the reasons to be in that mood - just 143 days ago, a significant tendon tear in her right hamstring during the home series against the West Indies had threatened to put her out of World Cup. The refusal of surgery, something which would keep her out of action for six months, meant Heather was always racing against time to be fit for the mega event.

“Really pleased. Like, I've had a pretty rubbish year, not going to lie, before this World Cup. So, I was really keen to try and make the most of it and try and enjoy just being here because, obviously, it was pretty tight to make it here. So, I've made a real conscious effort to try and enjoy the trip and try and enjoy what I do and try and get the best out of myself in my batting through that enjoyment and just being happy to be here, really.”

“Because sometimes you take it for granted when you're kind of on the treadmill of international cricket and when you do get injured, you kind of have that bit of time to kind of reflect and realise how fun it is and the opportunities that you do get and I was really keen to try and make the most of the opportunities during this World Cup and obviously try and contribute as much as I can to the team being successful.”

“But that was a pretty awful day, to be honest. When I obviously felt my hamstring rip off, that was not that fun. So, to be here now and obviously to be over that injury and to be contributing to the team being successful and obviously in the semi-finals now in the World Cup is a cool place to be. So, nice to be here and do well. Our S&C coach will really dislike if I mention pilates, so I probably should mention pilates - lots of pilates, and swimming,” said Heather in the post-game presser.

With 16,300 spectators in attendance, Heather stole the show by mixing precision and adaptability to bring out an array of sweeps and reverse sweeps, thus forming the backbone of her match-defining century. She peppered the square region with remarkable consistency, using her feet and angles to dismantle India’s spin attack.

In the match, Knight attempted 14 sweep shots against spin, yielding two dot balls, eight boundaries and four singles, while scoring 36 runs at a strike rate of 257.14.

At the 30-over mark, she was on a measured 33 off 46 balls, but shifted gears decisively. In the 32nd over, she swept a full delivery through square leg for four and then followed it up with a crisp cut off N. Shree Charani.

The sweep and its reverse version would also come out against the likes of Sneh Rana and Deepti Sharma, as Heather effectively pushed India on the backfoot in the later part of middle overs. It felt like every time the Indian spinners looked to keep her quiet, Heather would throw the counter-punch through the sweep shot.

“It was a productive shot for me here. I just felt like the threat with a little bit of hold in the wicket, I was finding it quite hard to hit down the ground and obviously India packed the sort of fielders on the leg side in front. So I felt like it was a bit of a risk at times; hitting down the ground felt like I might chip a catch. My sweep was working, and obviously the reverse is a shot that I'm really comfortable playing and I was left a gap and just felt like it was on.”

“Sometimes it's not always the conditions, but when a shot's working for you on a certain day, just sticking with that and it seemed to work out quite well and more just like around manipulating fields and things like that is something that I have in my locker and something that I work really hard on, particularly against off spin when we're in turning conditions, albeit it didn't turn as much here.”

“But because of the conditions we've been in, I've been working pretty hard on trying to sweep online and trying to use my different sweeps to manipulate the field. So, it was working and I don't know the percentage of runs scored through it, but it felt like quite a lot. It was just working for me, and just felt like giving it a go,” she elaborated.

While running between the wickets, Heather had shown no signs of her recent hamstring injury, before being undone while attempting to take a second run, via a direct hit from Amanjot Kaur. That run-out ended Knight’s sublime knock and triggered animated celebrations from the Indian team - far more exuberant than when Heather brought up her century.

Though England lost its last five wickets for 42 runs, Heather’s ton had ensured the wobble didn’t come to bite back the visitors’. “At the start, probably like a little bit more bounce and a little bit stopping, sort of like tennis ball. Obviously not the turn that we've been used to in Colombo and Guwahati.”

“It felt like the best batting track that we'd played on. Felt like a lot more options were on, I could accelerate through my innings, just got myself in and then felt like I put the foot down a lot more easily than in the conditions we potentially played at.”

“It did start to get a little bit easier towards the back end of my innings, whether that was a pitch or because I was in, not too sure. But I was obviously frustrated when I got out the way I did because I felt like if we had a set batter, we'd have pushed that up to sort of 315-320, which would have been well above par on that wicket,” opined Heather.

Apart from Heather, England found another saviour in left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who defended 14 runs in the final over to end with figures of 1-40 in her ten overs and be the most economical bowler of the match.

With 27 needed off 19 balls, Sophie Ecclestone gave away just four runs, before Lauren Bell conceded nine runs, leaving India with 14 to get off the last over. Against Linsey’s tight lines, Sneh and Amanjot managed singles off the first three balls, before Heather flung herself at cover to save a potential boundary.

Linsey held firm as India could only manage two and four on the last two balls to send England into jubilation scenes. “It was a pitch, as you saw with our back end, that it was quite hard to start and score straight away. So, we felt like if we could take a wicket and ramp the pressure up, obviously huge pressure on India to do well in this match.”

“Sometimes its just taking it deep and just trying to trust what we're trying to do as a group. I thought Linsey was outstanding as well - held her nerve brilliantly. She had a really good day at the office despite only picking up one wicket in the end. She had a brilliant day and was just very calm.”

“Just trying to do the basics really well. Trying to not let them get too many boundaries and squeeze when we had the opportunity to. We knew if we took it deep then hopefully we could flip things around. Things changed pretty quickly, didn't they? And managed to steal the win at the back end,” added Heather.

Linsey’s defining moment came much earlier when she got to drift away and dismiss Smriti Mandhana, who had anchored India’s chase after overcoming a scratchy start with a fluent 88 – apart from sharing stands of 125 and 67 with Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma, her fellow half-centurions.

“She's grown in confidence, and keeps things really simple. She knows what she does really well and just delivers it really. Obviously she's taken the new ball for us, which is slightly different role for her in one-day cricket, albeit she does it a lot in T20. So it's someone that gives control.”

“You know what you're going to get quite often from Lyns - she's skiddy, keeps the stumps in the game and is quite smart with her little changes of pace and obviously change the angle at the back end there coming round and things like that. So, she's a canny little bowler and really competitive as well.”

“She's doing a brilliant job for us and I thought she was outstanding, really sort of chilled under pressure and took some big overs. Obviously taking that wicket of Smriti was a real key one to get her out. That sort of opened the door for us to try and win the match. So, that was a real turning point, I think,” added Heather.

Having relinquished captaincy earlier this year following England’s Ashes setback, Heather’s experience and fluency against spin were always going to be pivotal in Indian conditions.

On Sunday, Heather deliver when it mattered most to be the architect of a memorable and tight England win alongside Linsey. Perhaps her 109 - carved out after what she herself called a rubbish year - was the clearest reminder of her enduring ability to be a Knight in shining armor - wielding the bat with purpose, poise, and unshakable resolve.

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