England captain Heather Knight hailed an outstanding performance in the field as her side earned a 65-run victory against Pakistan to claim series victory in the second international Twenty20.
Maia Bouchier and Alice Capsey’s 49-run partnership gave England the perfect platform before Nat Sciver-Brunt made her return to the side with a brilliant 31 off 21 balls as England finished on 144 for six.
Lauren Bell struck early for the hosts with two wickets – which included a fine catch from Danni Wyatt to dismiss Sadaf Shamas – before England’s spinners took over as Sophie Ecclestone claimed three for 11, and Sarah Glenn and Capsey took two each.
Knight praised a clinical performance from her side, but gave special mention to their work in the field.
She told Sky Sports: “Really pleased, I think the way we went about it with the bat in the powerplay, the batters have worked really hard the last couple of days, really on their thinking how they’re going to take on slower bowling on slower wickets and to see the way they came out was really pleasing.
“Probably lost a bit of momentum in the middle, but finished well and really clinical with the ball and outstanding in the field, really pleased with the fielding.”
Capsey made an important impact with the bat and ball, scoring 31 with the bat before making an instant impact with her first over of the game to dismiss Aliya Riaz and Diana Baig within three balls of each other.
Immediate impact from Alice Capsey! 👏
Follow along in the match centre ➡️ https://t.co/3TjwVWZo73 #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/ZssmoSqyGE
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) May 17, 2024
Reflecting on her performance, she said: “It would be nice to score runs every single game, but I think I’m learning to be more at peace with the ebbs and flows of the game as is my role with putting bowlers under pressure.
“It’s not going to happen every game and as you said, I’ve got amazing support from the staff, Heather and they’ve got the complete backing of me to be a match winner.
“I’m trying to work really hard on (my off-spin), we’ve got three high-quality spinners so it’s nice to get a bowl and hopefully take the opportunity.”
The series concludes on Sunday in Leeds before the ODI series begins next week.