England got their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign back on track in convincing fashion against Thailand in Canberra on Wednesday, after Heather Knight struck her maiden Twenty20 hundred in 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,” the captain said. “We were gutted after the performance the other day [against South Africa] so it’s nice to bounce back.”

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Knight’s partner for most of the England innings was Nat Sciver, with the pair sharing a 169-run partnership, the highest for any wicket at a Women’s T20 World Cup. 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 in the World Cup – we haven’t had those big partnerships,” Knight said. “It’s sometimes tricky, those games against countries that you’re expected to win, they’re not always the easiest to go out and win, so I’m delighted we’ve put in a really strong performance.”

Having helped England to amass a total of 176 for two, Sciver then chipped in with two wickets in the 14th over, severely denting Thailand’s chase – they ended on 78 for seven. In truth Thailand, who freely admit they are a bowling side, never looked as if they would get close to the required runs. Their efforts fizzled out in the face of some excellent fielding by a resurgent England, including a direct‑hit run‑out from Anya Shrubsole. Only the opener Natthakan Chantam showed any resistance, with 32 off 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,” the 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 appeared to benefit England: Knight in particular relishes batting at the Manuka Oval. After she was forced to defend her team’s strategy of playing eight batsmen in the pre‑match press conference, the captain’s innings – the highest score by an England player at a Women’s T20 World Cup – could be interpreted as an act of defiance, though it was helped along by a number of full tosses from the inexperienced Thai bowlers.

Her knock came at a crucial time. Thailand had given England a scare after Amy Jones was stumped without scoring off the second ball of the day, advancing down the wicket to the off‑spinner Nattaya Boochatham. Jones’s opening partner, Danielle Wyatt, then fell for a golden duck, driving into the hands of a diving the 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 to avoid the incoming throw from Tippoch at cover. With the very next ball Knight brought up her 1,000th T20 international run sweeping Ratanaporn Padunglerd for six over backward square leg. From there, the pair never looked back.

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“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 game if they are to guarantee progression to the semi-finals. Their performance on Wednesday will be a significant fillip to those hopes.