Heather Knight held back tears in rain-soaked Canberra as England’s Ashes hopes slipped through their fingers. With a tornado bearing down on them, this would prove to be difficult, but Knight remained calm among the mayhem. She displayed her fighting character as she counter attacked a lively Australian bowling attack.
After an especially disheartening 16-0 loss, Knight was stripped of her captaincy. She was behind one of the most important performances in World Cup history for her team. She led England to victory against Bangladesh, demonstrating her remarkable power and captaincy. This accomplishment is even more remarkable given that she was just coming back from a hamstring injury that kept her out for seven months.
Knight’s innings started slowly as she teed off early boundaries, abandoning her much-loved sweep shots so she could scratch her way to 25. After a tough start to her innings, she had managed just 15 runs off her first 50 deliveries. At first this was completely jarring for her, but once she got into a groove, the runs started to come out. She accelerated superbly from there, striking 64 off the next 61 deliveries, illustrating her versatility and resourcefulness in an extremely tense situation.
She had a brief moment of panic when the umpire gave her out caught behind. The third umpire didn’t stick with the on-field call and went for the review as there was no conclusive evidence showing a bat. The reprieve came none too soon. After being given a bang-bang lbw call, Knight got a double fist pump of support from coach Charlotte Edwards.
“When I did get into that rhythm, I was just really precise with my footwork and had a really clear gameplan, trying to sweep on line and use my feet to different bowlers to hit hard down the ground,” – Heather Knight
It really was miserable conditions, Knight giving a fair bit of credit to the Australian bowlers.
“I’ll learn a lot from the experience. It was really tough conditions out there and they bowled brilliantly,” – Heather Knight
Her performance in this semi-final match against the Netherlands was a brilliant testament to her industry and tactical intelligence. The interception that was reversed had first seemed like a rebuttal but was eventually ruled in her favor. During what proved to be a trying year, Knight took time to reflect on her good luck.
“The catch, I thought it was out on first look. But I probably felt like I deserved a little bit of luck after this year. I just tried to ride it and make the most of it, and sometimes it is just your day and you’ve got to make it count and win the game for your team,” – Heather Knight
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