England “live to fight another day” at the Women’s World Cup after their eager one-wicket win over New Zealand, says bowler Kate Cross.
The defending champions would likely have been eliminated had they lost and found themselves needing eight runs with the last pair in the crease.
No.11 Anya Shrubsole hit the winning runs to keep England in contention for the semi-finals.
“We have a win and we are still alive in this tournament,” Cross said.
“We need to regroup, take a breather, realize we have both points on the board. That’s all that matters.”
England are now likely to reach the semi-finals if they win the remaining two, against Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Knowing that defeat against New Zealand at Eden Park would likely have put them out, England eliminated the hosts 203, then went on to make it 176–4 with more than nine overs remaining.
- England keep World Cup hopes alive with nerve-wracking win
However, they managed to lose five wickets for 20 races, leaving Shrubsole and Charlie Dean barely holding the winning runs.
“It’s about finding ways to win and we found a way to win today,” said Cross, a bowler.
“We don’t want to be too negative about the fact that we have that win on the board.
“We have won a mandatory match against New Zealand on home soil at Eden Park in front of the biggest crowd we have ever played before.”
Cross also praised bowler Shrubsole, who recovered from being the last wicket to fall when England were beaten by seven runs against the West Indies earlier in the tournament.
Shrubsole led England to victory in the 2017 final against India, but also scored the winning runs in the semi-final victory over South Africa.
“He actually apologized after the West Indies game,” Cross told BBC Sport.
“I knew I could do it. Having those moments earlier in the tournament makes it easier to deal with them again.”
England were on the brink of elimination after losing their first three games, but now find themselves level with India, who sit fourth in the table.
Depending on the results involving the West Indies and India, who have two games to play, England will have a chance to progress in net run rate at least if they win their last couple of games.
“Cricket tournaments are all about peaking at the right time,” the 30-year-old Cross said.
“As long as we can continue to make improvements, which I feel like we have, hopefully we can get to that knockout stage.”
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