Heather Knight's brilliant century propels England to win over Thailand – The Guardian, Theguardian.com

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 scores in T 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 T 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 th 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 (th T) i run in style – sweeping Ratanaporn Padunglerd for six over backward square leg. From there, the pair never looked back.