Freya Kemp's comeback as an allrounder is peaking at the perfect time with one match to go against India ahead of the T20 World Cup.
In Bristol on Saturday, she netted 24 of her 39 runs in a brutal takedown of Arundhati Reddy in the final over of England's innings. In all she faced just 13 balls, which proved the difference as she lifted her side from 129 for 5 at the end of the 18th over to 168 for 5 after 20.
Having bowled sparingly while building her workloads after a long wrestle with back injuries, Kemp then took 2 for 15 in her two overs - removing Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues - as India fell 26 runs shy to take the series to a decider in Taunton on Tuesday.
It was as good a performance as Kemp could have hoped for with England set to begin their home World Cup against Sri Lanka on June 12.
"It's really pleasing having had a bit of a tough, bumpy ride for the last few years," Kemp said. "It was nice to finish off the innings like that. As a team we've spoken a lot about that and finishing off at the death really well and trying to put pressure on the opposition, so it's nice to do that with Dani Gibson.
"And with the ball, my first over went for a few runs, but nice to pick up the wicket. I tried to close out the game in my second over and it was nice to pick up the other wicket as well. So yeah, a good all-round performance and I'm really happy."
That Kemp finished unbeaten alongside Gibson, who was 11 not out off seven balls in an unbroken 42-run partnership off just 15, was poignant given that both have endured similar disruption to their careers with back stress fractures. Kemp had suffered two by the age of 19 and has required meticulous management since.
She bowled two wicketless overs and scored 31 not out off 20 in the first T20I against New Zealand earlier this month in Derby, her first match for England since the Ashes tour of Australia in January 2025.
Derby was also the scene of Kemp's maiden international fifty, an unbeaten 51 off 37 balls in just her second T20I batting innings in a losing cause, also against India, in September 2022.
That innings highlighted her value as a batter, her stocks boosted by the fact she is a rare England left-hander. If there can be an upside to the battle she has waged to return as an allrounder, it was that she was forced to concentrate on her batting when she couldn't bowl and she was grateful to head coach Charlotte Edwards for supporting her in that regard.
"Lottie's always backed me so much and I can't thank her enough," Kemp said. "When she was coach at Brave and Hampshire, even when I had my first stress fracture a few years ago, she backed me to play as a batter and it's definitely helped.
"Spending time in the middle and learning how to play different situations has really helped me. So I guess that time, obviously it's not ideal not being able to bowl, but we've put it to good use, I hope."
Kemp bowled four overs in the second game against New Zealand at Canterbury, conceding 34 runs for no wicket in her only other bowling performance so far this season. But she said she could have bowled four on Saturday, had Charlie Dean, England's stand-in captain, needed her.
Dean didn't, taking two wickets herself with Lauren Bell also contributing two and Sophie Ecclestone one as India lurched to 142 for 9.
Kemp had seen a chance go down off her bowling, Sophie Ecclestone unable to hold a low catch off Yastika Bhatia at mid-on, but three balls later, Kemp had Smriti Mandhana caught in the deep. Just as Kemp was about to bowl her second over, Bhatia walked off, retired out, but the move backfired on India as the incoming Jemimah Rodrigues miscued to cover three balls later.
"I just turned around and she was walking off the pitch," Kemp said of Bhatia's departure. "You just reset as a bowler and set the field and talk about plans with Charlie Dean, who's been amazing as captain. We just set up for the new batter."
Kemp credited bowling coach Chris Liddle, the former Sussex seamer, with helping her return with the ball.
"It's been really tough," she said. "I couldn't have done it without everyone around me, my friends, family, team-mates and all the support of the science and medicine team at England, and obviously Lottie and the coaches have been really supportive.
"I've been doing a lot of work this winter with Chris Liddle who's been great, a fellow left-armer as well. We've always looked at the World Cup as something to be peaking for and that's why we've been managing my workload a bit and it's been going well."