NICK FRIEND: England's captain has never played better in T20I cricket. She began 2020 with a solitary half century in the format, but now has three to go with her maiden hundred - all four have come in Canberra
As with West Indies, it was hard not to feel that England were simply invading the film set of Thailand’s fairytale as both sides strode onto the field for the pre-match anthems. And two overs in, there was a story afoot.
A Jones: st Koncharoenkai b Boochatham 0 (2)
D Wyatt: ct Liengprasert b Lateh 0 (1)
England were 0 for 1 after two balls, and then 7 for 2 after 10. The narrative around Thailand briefly shifted: talk of smiling faces and a team living its dream replaced by more fantastical thoughts. How much damage could they do here? What if?
That, ultimately, was as good as it got. England’s two in-form players came together and did all that was asked of them.
It felt as though the handbrake was never quite removed – perhaps it might have been in a bilateral series or, indeed, had England snuck across the line against South Africa. This wasn’t so much reckless abandon as it was a calculated, clinical, much-needed performance.
Tournament cricket plays unusual tricks on the mind. Heather Knight’s side was workmanlike rather than spectacular.
In truth, they were never likely to learn too much from a contest with the tournament debutants. Once Thailand won the toss and requested a chase, a chase was what they would get. Either way, job done. Points on the board.
The question is whether England might have gone harder sooner. When Sciver and Knight finally put their foot down, they scored at 12 runs per over without any alarm. Could they have made their move earlier? Perhaps.
But having been two wickets down early on and staring down the barrel of a must-win game, England will have been thrilled. Their stand of 169 is the best in the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup.
Nat Sciver made an unbeaten 59 for England
The transformation of the England captain in T20I cricket has been remarkable and one of the triumphs of Lisa Keightley’s early days in charge.
Before England touched down in Australia in January, Knight had only ever recorded a single half century in the format. She has since bettered her top score on three occasions – each time at Canberra’s Manuka Oval where, as she admitted afterwards, she simply loves batting. “The outfield is fast so you don’t to do much running,” she joked.
Knight now has three T20I fifties to her name to go with this maiden hundred – a landmark knock that leaves her out on her own as the only woman to make centuries in all three international formats.
For context, Knight has hit 104 fours and 21 sixes in T20Is. Of those, 31 fours and nine sixes have come in 2020 alone. A flick has been switched.
The growth of her own game has come with what appears to be a greater confidence. Under Keightley, this is very much her team. It is no criticism of Mark Robinson, her predecessor, who admitted himself to The Cricketer that he had tried to balance the need to give his captain freedom with his desire to advance the team.
“Me and Ali Maiden would sit together and wonder sometimes whether we were interfering too much. Sometimes I thought I must be driving Heather barmy,” Robinson said.
“We were trying to fast-track this team in matches that counted for qualification points. If she had a younger team and it was the men’s team, you let them make mistakes because it’s second team or academy stuff. But here, you’re talking global events. Trying to get that balance right of too much direction or not enough was hard to always get right.
“Heather is as good a leader of people – man or woman – as I’ve worked with. She’s outstanding, she’s up there for me with anyone.
“To see where she was at the beginning and where she is now, I’m proud of her like she’s my daughter. That probably sounds patronising, but tactically and as a leader, she has proven herself to be very comfortable in her own skin and wanting to be the best version of herself.”
She can rarely have played better than this at international level – not just today, but in the last month. There has been a dominance on show that she had never truly offered up in T20I cricket until now.
The aura with which she has gone about her recent work resembled more her form during last year’s Kia Super League finals day. On that occasion, she almost single-handedly took Western Storm to victory. It was hardly that taxing in Canberra, but the invincibility around Knight was similar.
Amy Jones has endured a difficult start to 2020
Cricket is the most fickle of games. Amy Jones closed out 2019 with scores of 53, 89 and 37 during a series win against Pakistan so convincing that it looked as though England had found themselves the perfect formula.
Tammy Beaumont batted at No.3, No.5 and No.7 in that series and few batted an eyelid, such was the output of runs elsewhere. Jones scored more than twice the number of runs of the next top-scorer on either side in a straightforward whitewash.
It followed a fine Women’s Big Bash; only nine players accrued more runs than her 391. Working under her new England coach, Lisa Keightley, she displayed her ability at the top of the order.
It will have convinced the Australian that this is the role for her wicketkeeper. And she may well be right. But Jones has endured a wretched month since England arrived down under.
It seemed as though she had returned to some kind of form against South Africa; her stroke-play was back towards its most fluent in reaching 23. It remains her highest score of the tour.
Here, she was frenetic, under-edging her first delivery – a dropped chance, albeit a tough opportunity, before charging her second ball and paying the price.
Whether this was the innings of a scrambled game plan is hard to pinpoint within such a small sample size. But either way, the ghost of Beaumont looms large, hovering down the order and itching for an opportunity.
Not once in eight games in 2020 have Jones and Danni Wyatt managed to see out the powerplay together, while their highest stand since Lisa Keightley took charge is just 41. Jones’ highest score of the tour is 23 - coming in this game, while Wyatt’s is 42.
Wyatt herself enjoyed an even better WBBL, making 468 runs for Melbourne Renegades. Yet she has stumbled to just 85 runs in her last seven T20I innings. She, more than anyone, epitomises the brand of cricket that England are looking to play – fearless, daring, innovative. The move to eight batters has been designed to facilitate exactly this. Theoretically, it is the insurance that enables the launchpad.
With that in mind, it remains important to put the struggles of England’s openers into context. It won’t always come off – as proven by recent weeks. But they have invested in this duo. And it is hard to see them moving away from them in the next fortnight.
It is cricket’s great quirk: form comes as quickly as it goes. And England need it to return.
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