Heather Knight praises the bravery of her spinners as England look to wrap up the series

England skipper Heather Knight believes they haven’t really played to their potential so far in the series and will be looking to wrap the series up in the third match of the five-match T20I series against West Indies on Saturday (September 26).



"It's been a good start we probably haven't played our best cricket yet. Still winning well, still posting 150+ despite probably not fulfilling our potential really as a batting lineup yet,” Knight said during the media interaction ahead of the match.



“It's been really lovely to get back out there playing, dust off a few cobwebs, I think in general we have been pretty sharp, which's been really pleasing actually because we worked really hard during the lockdown period to work on a few things as individuals. So, it's been nice to that and obviously looking for a series win tomorrow."



England went 2-0 up after winning the the first two matches comfortably beating the visitors by 47 runs each time at The County ground in Derby. Knight backed the top order to build on their starts and go on to get some big individuals scores.



“You always are looking for big scores as batters and we haven't had many people go on and I think the other night we had lot of starts and no one went on to score that really big score which wins a large percentage of games,” she said.



“So, obviously we are looking to do that and I think West Indies probably bowled more to their plans and executed better the other night. The pitch was a little bit slower and they went a little bit wider, we didn’t adapt well enough to that tactic, but hopeful that we will get some runs on the board.”



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“Me and Nat (Natalie Sciver) in particular have had a really good year, but we haven't went on and got those runs so far in the series. Nat has been hitting the ball more better than ever in practice, so backing her over the next few games.”



Knight picked the spin trio of Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn and Mady Villiers for special praise for the way they have performed ever since their debut and the second T20I in particular. She said the trio has been brave with their plans and it is important to have different spin options available in T20Is to restrict the opposition batters.



"Those spinners give us different options and we can obviously match up against different batters in T20Is that's very important to take wickets and control other batters in different conditions," Knight added.



"Sophie and Sarah has been consistently been in the side for long time now and really done well for us and to see Mady take her opportunity like that, she obviously didn't bowl in the first game due to tactical bit. I am really delighted for them; they are all 21 which is really nice to see them doing well.”



“What they have done is they have been really brave as well. You saw Sarah Glenn the other day get Deandra Dottin by tossing the ball up and if you are not going get it right you are going go the distance. It's been really pleasing to see them be really brave and how they go about things and looking to take wickets which is something we want to keep on doing as a side, something we have addressed since the World Cup we want to get better at taking wickets in through the middle period and them spinners have been a massive part of that.”



Third match of the series will be broadcast live on free-to-air television to mark the return of women’s cricket to terrestrial television since 1993 and Knight expressed the happiness about the visibility the series has been getting.



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"We are desperate put a show on, this the most visible bilateral series we have ever had, which is amazing,” Knight said. “Sky have been a great broadcast partner and have showed all the games for free on YouTube as well, but to have that prime slot on BBC is going to increase the reach we are able to have. So, hopefully we are going to put on a brilliant performance. There has been a bigger buzz around training today, despite the cold weather in Derby.”



Knight empathised with the lack of training West Indies had coming into the series while downplaying the suggestion that the series hasn’t been competitive so far to attract a larger audience when it goes to terrestrial television.



“It doesn't concern me. I guess our job is just try and win games of cricket which we have been doing. Obviously, the West Indies had a little bit of break; not many of them were training before they came over here. That obviously need to be taken into account a little bit,” Knight said.



“I think the other day (second T20I) it did threaten to be a really good game when Deandra and Stafanie were putting in that partnership. We did really feel under little bit of pressure and in the first game as well when Deandra was there you always felt like they could make a game of it, since we know the hitting potential she does have.”



“But I think as a side we executed really well, particularly with the ball and managed to keep them quiet. We would hope to continue do that. From a captain's point of view in terms of growth of the team, you would like to see the girls put under as much as pressure as possible, but we are doing our job very well at the moment and will look to continue to do that,” Knight concluded.