CRICKET | The sort of 12 months Ive had, I most likely deserved it, says Heather Knight

On her first aggressive match after eight months, Heather Knight was handed three lifelines as her 111-ball 79 saved England’s blushes in a four-wicket win over Bangladesh within the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 on Tuesday on the Barsapara Stadium right here.

“I actually had a little bit of luck at the moment and the sort of 12 months I’ve had, I most likely deserved it,” Knight laughed after the match. After a 0-16 (factors) humbling by Australia within the Ashes in January, she left her function as captain in May. She then was out with a hamstring harm.

Back within the crease, Knight needed to lead the 179-run chase as she ran out of companions on the different finish. “The hardest factor typically getting back from harm is to search out the rhythm within the center, which may take a while. I’m delighted that I used to be in a position to spend just a little little bit of time on the market and get via that strain,” she mentioned.

Time is one thing she did take to get used to the circumstances as Bangladesh saved hacking away on the wickets. After 30 overs, England misplaced six wickets and was at sea. Knight had racked up 28 runs in 68 balls. Then, a fruitful partnership with Charlie Dean turned the match on its head.

“I all the time believed we had been going to win. I knew that if one batter got here via then we’d win it. When Alice [Capsey] got here in, we type of mentioned that one large partnership will flip the sport. It was the identical with Deano [Dean].”

She revealed how periods within the nets in comparable circumstances on the day earlier than gave her an concept of the wicket. Then within the match, the rub of the inexperienced and a few sweep pictures in direction of the top of her knock did the job. It was actually Knight’s evening.