Cricket World Cup: England 'live to fight another day', says Kate Cross
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England edge New Zealand in thrilling World Cup match
England "live to fight another day" in the Women's World Cup after their anxious one-wicket victory over New Zealand, says bowler Kate Cross.
The defending champions would probably have been eliminated had they lost and found themselves needing eight runs with the last pair at the crease.
Number 11 Anya Shrubsole hit the winning runs to keep England in contention for the semi-finals.
"We've got a win and we're still alive in this tournament," said Cross.
"We need to regroup, take a breath, realise we have the two points on the board. That is all that matters."
England are now likely to reach the semi-finals if they win their remaining two, against Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Knowing that defeat against New Zealand at Eden Park would likely have put them out, England bowled the hosts out for 203, then reached 176-4 with more than nine overs remaining.
However, they contrived to lose five wickets for 20 runs, leaving Shrubsole and Charlie Dean to eke out the winning runs.
"It's about finding ways of winning and we found a way to win today," said pace bowler Cross.
"We don't want to be too negative about the fact we have got that win on the board.
"We've won a must-win game against New Zealand on their home soil at Eden Park in front of the biggest crowd we've played in front of."
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Cross also praised fellow pace bowler Shrubsole, who bounced back from being the last wicket to fall when England were beaten by seven runs against West Indies earlier in the tournament.
Shrubsole bowled England to victory in the 2017 final against India, but also hit the winning runs in the semi-final win over South Africa.
"She actually apologised after the West Indies game," Cross told BBC Sport.
"I knew she could do it. Having those moments earlier in the tournament makes it easier to deal with them again."
England were on the verge of elimination after losing their first three games, but now find themselves level with fourth-placed India in the table.
Depending on results involving West Indies and India, who each have two games to play, England will have the opportunity to progress on net run-rate at least if they win their final pair of matches.
"Tournament cricket is all about peaking at the right time," said 30-year-old Cross.
"As long as we can keep making improvements, which I feel like we have, hopefully we can get into that knockout stage."