England are one win away from their joint-third longest winning run, while a victory in the final ODI would effectively guarantee qualification for the 2021 Women's World Cup
England captain Heather Knight is hopeful that the rain will stay away at Chelmsford so England can maintain their winning run in tomorrow’s final Royal London Women’s ODI.
Her side have won 12 all-format games in a row, with one more win taking England to their joint-third longest winning run as well as securing a series clean-sweep and two more ICC Women’s Championship points – points that would effectively guarantee qualification for the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.
“The forecast isn’t great and training was slightly affected by the rain today but we can’t plan for that,” said Knight.
Katherine Brunt is being rested for the final ODI.
“We obviously want to get out there and maintain this good run of form. I’ve been really happy with how ruthless we’ve been throughout this run of victories and ideally we can keep it going as long as possible.
“We did well at Worcester given the weather made things difficult, and we’ll have to adapt tomorrow if that’s the case again tomorrow.”
Knight will be without the services of Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver for the third ODI, both of whom have been rested ahead of the Vitality IT20 series and the Women’s Ashes. England’s captain believes that will give others a chance to impress.
“Katherine and Nat are obviously really big players for us so it’s important that we’re able to maintain out standards without them in the side.
“We’ve got a lot of good players throughout the squad and hopefully we’ll see someone sticking their hand up tomorrow and making a case to stay in the side going forward.
“The more cricket we play the more we need to increase our strength in depth and that’s always a good thing for a side to have, competition for places.
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“So for one of the girls who hasn’t been in the XI so far this series, or for Bryony Smith – who’s come in to the squad for this match – there could be a chance to show what they can do.”
Courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network.