England captain Heather Knight was delighted after her team qualified for the ongoing ICC Women World Cup 2022 semifinals after beating Bangladesh by 100 runs at the Basin Reserve, Wellington on Sunday. England got off to a poor start in the tournament as they lost their three opening matches against Australia, West Indies, and South Africa.
However, Heather Knight-led team won their next four matches against India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to qualify for the last four. Meanwhile, England posted a fighting score of 234 runs against Bangladesh at the Basin Reserve after Sophia Dunkley scored a fine knock of 67 from 72 balls. However, Knight feels they could have scored more runs after electing to bat first.
On the other hand, Sophie Ecclestone and Charlotte Dean were the pick of the bowlers for England as both of them scalped three wickets each. Furthermore, Freya Davies took two wickets for England.
Meanwhile, it looked like the defending champions will find it hard to qualify for the semifinals however they were able to come up with their best in the last four matches. England was able to tick the right boxes in the last four games and they would aim to continue their good show in the ODI showpiece to defend their title.
Heather Knight said in the post-match presentation, “Job was to come here, get the points and qualify. Really pleased. Would’ve liked a few more runs. But the wicket was pretty slow. She has been a really good find for us (Dunkley). She hits the ball very cleanly. The top six have spent time in the middle, hopefully, that’ll be a good time for the semis. Have to wait and see where we’re playing. One eye on NRR, and one eye on looking after your bowlers ahead of the semifinal. We’ll happily play whoever it is.”
England will now face South Africa in the semifinal, against which they had lost by three wickets in the league stage.
The defending champions will take on the Proteas in the semifinal clash at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Thursday.
