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Heather Knight's brilliant century propels England to win over Thailand

<span>Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images</span>
Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

England got their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign back on track in convincing fashion against Thailand in Canberra on Wednesday, after captain Heather Knight struck her maiden Twenty20 hundred to lead her side to a record 98-run win.

“I’ve holed out in the 90s in domestic T20 cricket a few times so it’s really pleasing to finally get three figures,” Knight said. “We were gutted after the performance the other day so it’s nice to bounce back.”

Related: Palpable sigh of relief sweeps Australia as T20 World Cup hosts survive scare | Melinda Farrell

Knight’s partner for most of the England innings was Nat Sciver, the pair sharing a 169-run partnership – the highest for any wicket at a Women’s T20 World Cup – as Sciver brought up a 45-ball half-century, her second in as many matches this tournament.

“We wanted to extend the partnership, because that’s what we haven’t done so far – we haven’t had those big partnerships,” Knight explained. “It’s sometimes tricky, those games against countries that you’re expected to win, they’re not always the easiest, so I’m delighted that we’ve put in a really strong performance.”

Having helped England amass a total of 176 for two, Sciver then chipped in with two wickets in the 14th over, severely denting Thailand’s chase – the Asian side eventually concluding their innings on 78 for seven.

In truth Thailand – who freely admit they are a bowling side – never looked like getting close to the required runs, their efforts fizzling out in the face of some excellent fielding by a resurgent England, including a direct hit run out from Anya Shrubsole. Only opener Natthakan Chantam showed any resistance, acquiring a steady 32 (53 balls) before being trapped LBW by Sophie Ecclestone.

“It was a challenging game for us but we tried to do our best on the field,” Thailand captain Sornnarin Tippoch said. “We’re always trying to improve on the aggressive side of our game. In T20 the nature of the game is trying to get runs on the board so we’ll need to work hard on our batting game.”

After their disastrous first outing against South Africa at the Waca, the change of location from Perth to Canberra appears to have benefited England: Knight in particular relishes batting at the Manuka Oval, having hit all four of her 50+ scores in T20 internationals here. After she was forced into defending her team’s controversial strategy of playing eight batsmen in the pre-match press conference, the skipper’s innings – the highest ever score by any England player at a Women’s T20 World Cup – could be interpreted as an act of defiance, though it was helped along by more than a handful of full tosses from the inexperienced Thai bowlers.

Her captain’s knock came at a crucial time: Thailand had given England quite a scare up front, after Amy Jones was stumped without scoring off the second ball of the day, advancing down the wicket to off-spinner Nattaya Boochatham. Opening partner Danielle Wyatt then fell for a golden duck, driving into the hands of a diving cover fielder to leave England seven for two in the second over.

The ever-reliable Knight and Sciver, though, calmed fraying English nerves with a partnership that began sedately with nurdled singles, before a significant push in the 13th over. Ironically it seemed to be the near-run out of Sciver that signalled the change of pace: advancing down the pitch from the non-striker’s end, she was sent back by Knight and had to dive full-stretch to avoid the incoming throw from Tippoch at cover. The very next ball, Knight brought up her 1000th T20i run in style – sweeping Ratanaporn Padunglerd for six over backward square leg. From there, the pair never looked back.

“We went in to a bit of a tricky situation – two down quite quickly,” Knight said. “It was about trying to stay calm. It could have been quite easy to panic in that situation – we had to try and rebuild and get the platform to go again at the end.”

“Once we got what we knew was going to be a good total, we decided to have a bit of fun, take the game on, and try and hit some boundaries.”

England return to the Manuka Oval on Friday for their next group match against Pakistan, another must-win encounter if they are to guarantee progression to the semi-finals. Wednesday’s performance at Canberra will be a significant fillip to those hopes.