Heather Knight proves why she is England's most important batter, even when not captain
ENG (144/5) beat WI (127/8) by 17 runs
Without Heather Knight, England could have been left facing a very different end to their Twenty20 series against West Indies.
Unlike in their first two matches, in which the hosts claimed victory with ease, the mildly rain-affected but not truncated match at Chelmsford threatened a different outcome.
Put in to bat first, West Indies were accurate on line and length, forcing the England players to take risks, but had no answer to Knight who spearheaded the batting with an impressive 66 from 47 balls as they put on 144 for five.
Despite Hayley Matthews making 71, England secured the 3-0 win with a 17-run victory to start the Charlotte Edwards era in ideal fashion. However, the fact that Knight was left hobbling at the crease at the end of the innings and was unable to field with a tight hamstring will be a cause for concern for Edwards.
Knight formed an important partnership with new captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who made 37 from 40 deliveries before being caught on the boundary, having been dropped on 36.
No one looked as assured at the crease as Knight, who pulled, swept and paddled boundaries, including a big six over midwicket.
'Her innings was pretty special to get us up to that total,' Sciver-Brunt said. 'That just shows her class and experience obviously. She's a great asset to have.'
Knight has been plagued with hamstring problems for the last decade since tearing it in the Women's Ashes in 2013, which forced her to stop bowling seam and take up off-spin.
Although Knight said in her first interview since losing the captaincy that the role brought out the best of her as a player and a person, she has continued to be an imposing figure at the crease. Even when batting on one leg after bringing up her half-century, she still managed to hit the final ball of the innings for four.
England have relied on her – and Sciver-Brunt – to deliver the majority of their runs for years. Knight has scored at least 40 in her last four T20 innings for England, including two this series and two during the Ashes in Australia. If she has aggravated an old injury, that could cause problems before the visit of India next month.
It has been the case all series that if you stop Matthews, you stop the West Indies, something England managed to do in Hove but couldn't in Canterbury. But there were more worrying signs in the field, with three drops, one of them a sitter by Sciver-Brunt, although she did recover to take two more difficult chances.
Charlie Dean had her own delivery driven straight back to her and put it down, and another caught the outside edge but could only glance Jones' pads. Matthews brought up her half-century, when Wyatt-Hodge could not hold on to a catch on the rope.
When West Indies went off at 97 for three, with a DLS par score of 106, rain forced a delay. Matthews resumed in the same fashion she left off, but was out in the 18th over, picking out Em Arlott at long on off Lauren Bell.
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