Women's T20 World Cup 2020: Heather Knight feels loss to South Africa cost England dearly as rain ends their campaign

What's the story?

After a heartbreaking exit from the Women's T20 World Cup 2020, English skipper Heather Knight mentioned that the defeat against South Africa Women cost England Women dearly. She felt that the organizers need to have a reserve day, however she accepted the fact that the team cannot do anything about that.

The background

England Women's campaign got off to a disastrous start as they were crushed by Sri Lanka Women in the warm-up matches. Later, South Africa Women overcame a challenge from them in their first match as Knight and her teammates seemed to have lost their golden touch.

However, England Women commanded a turnaround in the remaining group matches as they beat Thailand Women, Pakistan Women and West Indies Women to take the second spot in Group B.

They were set to clash with Group A's winners, India Women, in the semi-final on Thursday but the heavy rain did not allow the match to take place in Sydney. As a result, India Women qualified for the finals by virtue of their better performance in the group stage.

The heart of the matter

Knight opened up on her team's exit from the tournament during the post-match conference and said:

"Frustrating, didn't want the World Cup to end this way but not much you can do about this. Would have been good to have a reserve day perhaps. That loss to South Africa cost us. We expected to reach the semi-finals and that we did. Undone by the weather."

Also see – RCB 2020 team

She disclosed that the team was pumped up for the semi-finals until rain intervened in the proceedings. Knight added:

"It's all very English isn't it, talking about the weather and getting knocked out. It felt that we gained a bit of momentum in the last few games and we were pumped up for the semifinals."

What's next?

The second semi-final of the competition is currently underway at the same venue as hosts Australia Women are battling South Africa Women for a spot in the final. It will be intriguing to see which team wins the match and sets up a title clash with India Women.