England’s hopes for retaining their Cricket World Cup title are back on, following a strong performance against India, winning by four wickets.
The result comes off the back of a lacklustre run of form for head coach Lisa Keightley’s side, starting with a 12 run loss to Australia, a seven run defeat to the West Indies, and a three wicket loss to South Africa.
Following this result however, optimism is seemingly building in the England camp, with Player of the Match and off-spinner Charlie Dean surprised by the accolade, and believes the result reflects the quality in the team.
“I don’t think I was expecting this at the start of the game so I’m really happy,” Dean told BBC Sport.
She added: “We have shown a lot of fight as a team to come back from a few disappointing games to show what we can do. So really happy,
“I just tried to keep it simple, bowl as close to the stumps as possible and trust my best ball.”
Dean wasn’t the only big player during the match, with Captain Heather Knight coming up big for her team, ending unbeaten on 53 as the victory was completed with more than 18 overs to spare.
Knight in particular felt the win could be invaluable for the team, and could signal a much needed return to form.
“A bit of relief, to be honest. I think we needed that,” Knight revealed to the BBC.
“It was a little bit scrappy, and we lost a few more wickets than we’d like, but just to get over the line is really nice for us and hopefully the start of a momentum shift.”
Following the win, they move up to sixth in the table, only two points behind third placed Australia, but are set to play a must win game against New Zealand next on Saturday, to ensure they finish in one of the four semi-final slots.
