England prime Wyatt to blunt India spinners
Robinson says March’s century can lift batters Yadav threatens hopes of reaching the final
Preparing for the business end of a major tournament can come in all shapes and sizes, as England have learnt over the past couple of days ahead of their World T20 semi-final against India tonight in a replay of last year’s World Cup decider.
Much is made of India’s powerful batting, but the way they have suffocated sides with their slow and wide-pitched spin has been nearly as important, with tiny Poonam Yadav the most potent of the lot.
In order to ready themselves for this challenge, England’s senior assistant coach, Ali Maiden, has taken to bowling to England’s top order from his knees at training to best replicate what got the better of Australia and New Zealand.
Also, since the last time they played, losing to West Indies on Sunday night in a riveting encounter in St Lucia, Heather Knight’s side spent a couple of hours stuck on the Tarmac when the plane chartered to transport them to Antigua was kept on the ground as a result of a fee the pilot had not paid.
But they did get to relax during a bad-shirt night the management organised upon their arrival in the country, where they will strive to capture back-to-back global trophies. The important point, as far as Knight and coach Mark Robinson are concerned, is that they have found a way to keep smiling throughout their challenging, stopstart campaign.
Robinson rejected the premise of the question when asked how disappointed he was when losing the chance to top the group against West Indies. “You can’t live in a black-and-white world where you win and you’re proud or you lose and you’re disappointed,” he said. “We showed a lot of resilience to get the score which was more than competitive in the end. And then bowled really well for the majority of it. I was proud of how they stuck at the task.”
Specifically, he heaped praise on Danielle Wyatt for the two excellent outfield catches she took in the dark sky in front of a crowd as frenzied as he has seen as the game reached a nail-biting conclusion.
Knight also saw the bigger picture. “The hostility of that crowd is going to be a great learning experience for some of the younger girls, and even for some of the older ones,” she said. “That’s the second- biggest crowd I’ve played in front of. Whether that comes into the semi-final or down the line, that’s going to be a useful experience.”
After an uninspiring pool stage with the bat for England’s top order – only one of whom made it to 50 runs – the attention shifts to Wyatt, who made a stellar century against India in March. “She has got good memories of playing against India and she’ll carry that confidence into this game,” Robinson said. “But you want one of your top four, in particular, to go on and score a matchwinning contribution.”
Before picking a final XI, Robinson and Knight will watch closely as Australia play West Indies in the earlier of the two semi-finals. Without any grass to speak of on the pitch, it is likely England will again go with the triple-pronged spin attack that served them well so far.
That will likely include the most impressive of the four used in the tournament so far, Kirstie Gordon, who suffered a back spasm that forced her to leave the field on Sunday. After the frustratingly long commute, the England camp gave the former Scotland international an additional day off to recover.
The decision on the final spot will come down to whether England stick with the plan they first deployed, where they went with three left-arm tweakers, or if they back the experience of Danielle Hazell, whose off-spin was rolled out against West Indies.
While reluctant to put too much emphasis on last year’s World Cup win against the same opponent, Knight will remind her charges about the impressive record they boast in knockout games, including in the pool where their fixture against South Africa was a virtual eliminator. “We knew it was straight into crunch time,” Knight said. The time where they do their finest work.