Heather Knight says England Women have the resilience and fight to win ICC Women's World T20
Watch the ICC Women's World T20 live on Sky Sports this November
Saturday 3 November 2018 13:47, UK
Captain Heather Knight says England Women are in a much stronger place to win the ICC Women's World T20 two years on from their watershed defeat to Australia in the semi-finals.
Knight succeeded Charlotte Edwards as skipper in the wake of England's implosion in the last four of the 2016 tournament, when they lost six wickets for 28 runs to miss out on a spot in the final by five runs.
Speaking to Sky Sports Cricket podcast FOR A PODCAST WHICH YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE, Knight said the calamitous defeat in India marked the start of a new era - one which has already yielded silverware after victory in the 2017 50-over World Cup.
"We reference that game at Delhi quite a lot," admitted Knight. "We lost that semi-final, one in which we were in a very good position and a game we should have won.
"For me, that defeat was the making of this team; it gave me and [coach] Mark [Robinson] a chance to have a fresh start, address a few things that we thought needed addressing in terms of standing up in big moments, in big tournaments - being able to deal with the pressure of the big stage and a few other bits as well.
"I think that collectively as a team we're in a much stronger place than we were two years ago, particularly in terms of T20; we've shown over the last two years that we can step up in big moments.
"You saw that when we were down and out in the World Cup final last year; we showed the resilience and fight to come back. We've showed a lot of examples of that over the last two years and I think as cricketers individually we're better players as well."
England have recorded 11 victories from their last 16 games - beating Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa in T20 internationals since March - and now sit third in the World T20 rankings behind Australia and New Zealand.
But Knight echoes Robinson's call for the players to show greater consistency, adding: "This tournament that is coming up in the West Indies is going to be a great stage for the girls to show where they are at.
"Danni Wyatt has announced herself a little bit in T20, Tammy Beaumont scored a T20 century in the summer and young Sophie Ecclestone has been outstanding for us. So we're really excited to see what we can do on the biggest stage of them all."
To hear more from Heather, download the podcast, which features her thoughts on…
- Just how big an impact the absence of Sarah Taylor will have on the team and why Amy Jones is the second-best wicketkeeper in the world.
- What makes the 'vertically-challenged' opening partnership forged by Danni Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont so successful.
- The different options that new spinners Kirstie Gordon and Linsey Smith offer the side - and the importance of Sophie Ecclestone performing well.
- How much the success of the Kia Super League and Women's Big Bash has helped players rise to the pressures of performing on the bigger stages.
Watch every match from the ICC Women's World T20 live on Sky Sports this November.
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