Charlie Dean hailed Danni Wyatt-Hodge for her imperious performance at The Oval as England extended their unbeaten run at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup with a sublime nine-wicket victory against defending champions New Zealand.
The hosts had already booked their spot in the semi-finals following their victory against the West Indies on Wednesday, a match in which Wyatt-Hodge also starred in, but Saturday's victory will give England huge momentum heading into the knockout stages.
England's top order raced their way to beating the 164-run target set by New Zealand in just 17.2 overs, with Wyatt-Hodge bringing up an unbeaten score of 89 from 53 runs, which included 15 fours and one booming six.
Alongside Sophia Dunkley, who also impressed but came up shy of her half-century, making 49 not out off 38 deliveries, the pair expertly sculpted a partnership of 128 off 80 balls by picking out shots all around the ground.
Wyatt-Hodge, who became a mum in May, has made back-to-back half centuries, with Saturday's fifty being her 22nd in the T20I format.
"Wyatt-Hodge is not sleeping much but is still scoring so many runs. She's been exceptional for us," stand-in captain Dean said.
"The way she's pushed her game on and still wants to get better, I love that about her.
"She's the ultimate 360 player.
"Everyone has been stepping up at different times and our batting order has really stepped up when they've needed to and different people have been contributing.
"We know our roles as a bowling group as well and we're getting more comfortable with that.
"Tournament cricket is all about winning the games in front of you, and hopefully we can do that again."
Thanks in part to Wyatt-Hodge's excellent performance with the bat, England topped Group B having won all five of their group-stage matches at the World Cup, while also maintaining their flawless T20I record at The Oval.
The hosts have played five T20I matches at the south London venue, but have never once lost, which will bode in their favour as they prepare to for a semi-final on either Tuesday or Thursday next week at The Oval, live on Your Site.
Wyatt-Hodge will be hoping to continue her excellent form into the knockout stages, with the England batter revealing that becoming a mum has given her a greater desire to keep performing.
"It does give me that extra motivation," she said.
"It's a surreal feeling, I can't believe it. I'm living the dream, I've got a newborn at home, and I'm playing in a home World Cup."
After a period of parental leave earlier this year, she returned to International duty for England's second T20 warm-up match against India in May.
She struck a brilliant unbeaten century in England's first match against Sri Lanka, before struggling to make runs in England's next two World Cup matches against Ireland (16) and Scotland (7).
But the England batter has found her groove and is relishing her time at the crease.
"T20 cricket is so fickle. I'm just enjoying being out there, but every game is so different," she said. "It's different conditions, different bowlers.
"I'm just trying to forget what I've done and just go again and just really be hungry, want to score runs and keep that fire in my belly and keep going.
"It's so important to stay level because cricket can bite you in the bum quite quickly. Obviously, think about what I've done in the past, but not too much, I prepare really well, think about the bowlers that I've come up against.
"I think about what the pitch is going to do, I've played at The Oval quite a lot, so I knew I was going to get a lot of bouncers. And pick the bowlers I wanted to take down.
"I found spin easier tonight than facing the seamers. I was happy to rotate against Bree Illing, she bowled really well, and then [I wanted to] take down the others."
Your Site Cricket analyst Tash Farrant said:
"Charlotte Edwards will be really happy. I don't think they were put under enormous pressure by New Zealand.
"If you've got someone in form like Wyatt-Hodge, you're going to be in a pretty good place as a team. She is just excellent.
"That is a great sign for England, because she started the summer a little bit techy. Her super strength is playing through the offside. She is excellent. She runs between the wickets so well, and that just creates energy for the rest of the line-up. She didn't really have to run that much tonight, did she? Because she found the boundary so easily.
"She's in great form and seems in a really good place. A recent mother, and that's just almost giving her a little bit more perspective on things.
"And the best thing is the semi-final for England is going to be here once again at The Oval, and Wyatt-Hodge absolutely loves batting here."
The result means defending champions New Zealand have been knocked out of the World Cup, despite being given the chance to progress to the knockout stages, after Ireland beat the West Indies earlier in the day.
Despite the disappointing loss, White Ferns captain Amelia Kerr explained there were plenty of positive learnings following the tournament.
"We can all recognise that we've had a disappointing tournament," Kerr said.
"Of course, we'd love a shot at the semi-finals. The exciting thing is there's still a lot to work on. There's still a lot of good stuff that we're doing.
"But if we can get five per cent better in the field with the bat and the ball, we can be a really dangerous side.
"There's so much exciting young talent in this group that we're only going to get better and better."
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through to the final at Lord's on July 5.
