England kick off the World Cup defense against Australia on Saturday, live on Sky Sports from 12.30am; Heather Knight’s team defeated 12-4 by Australia at Ashes after blowing winning chances; captain says England will go “a little under the radar” at this year’s World Cup in New Zealand
England captain Heather Knight said sky sports she is looking to her side to show a ruthless streak and “killer instinct” that was missing during her defeat of Ashes as they aim to win successive 50+ World Cups.
England suffered a 12-4 loss to Australia at The Ashes earlier this year after failing to win any of five outright matches in the multi-format series, but they had their chances.
Knight’s team were on their way to victory in the independent test, which required 45 runs over 10 overs with seven wickets in hand, before collapsing and having to hold on to a gripping draw.
Then, in the first one-day international, England held Australia to 205-9 from their 50 overs, only to later fade to 178 as the Southern Stars held off the Ashes.
England were well beaten in the last two ODIs, eliminated 129 and 163, but have an immediate chance at revenge when they take on Meg Lanning’s tournament favorites in the opening match of the World Cup in Hamilton on Saturday, live. on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup from 00:30.
gentleman said sky sports Nasser Hussain: “I don’t think we had that killer instinct to cross the line.
“We competed with Australia on occasion and looking back I think the test match took a lot more out of the team, mentally more than physically, than we realized at the time.
“It was quite difficult to recover from that and I don’t think the final two ODIs were a reflection of us as a team and how we wanted to approach our cricket. We wanted to go to Australia and be aggressive but then we went away from that a bit.
“We’ve had some really good talks about intent and how we’re going to score in the World Cup. It’s going to be a comprehensive hitting unit effort.”
“I don’t think playing Australia first is a bad thing,” Knight added, ahead of a clash with an Australia side that have won 31 of their last 33 one-day internationals.
“It gives us an opportunity to try to show what we didn’t show in The Ashes and have that killer instinct. I really think we have the ability to beat them in that game.”
“Australia have earned the favourites’ label. They have been the standout team for the last five years. We will certainly go under the radar a bit, but we are confident we can succeed.”
“Being successful and winning World Cups are some of the best moments of your life, but we just have to focus on that first match and go game by game, which is what we did well in 2017.
“We looked out for each other and didn’t worry too much about other teams. That’s the advice I’ll give everyone in this tournament.”
“In a World Cup you prepare for a different team every time and sometimes that takes a bit of the pressure off as you don’t get a chance to overthink things or think an opposition player has an advantage. about you. You have a chance for a fresh head.”
England are four-time World Cup champions, having triumphed at home in 1973, 1993 and 2017 and also in Australia in 2009.
Victory five years ago at a sold-out Lord’s came after a dramatic turnaround, with first-time finishers India 191-3 in the 43 over 229 chase, only to later lose seven wickets for 28 runs – Anya Shrubsole with five of them plus one run, as England scored a nine-run success.
Knight added: “The first time I saw it properly was during lockdown at home. I had the watch together with Sky and felt the emotions again, the ups and downs, and it was really nice to reflect.
“But I’m definitely someone who says, ‘What’s next? What’s the next tour? How do we improve as a team and keep moving forward?’
“We were a very young and fresh team in 2017. We didn’t have that experience. We hadn’t played against some of the best teams in the world. We didn’t really know how we were going to go.
“We’re pretty established now as players and we’ve also added a little bit of youth, which is good. There will be nerves, maybe more from the experienced players, as you have the expectation and you know what it’s about.”
“For the younger players, I think it’s about encouraging them to do what they’ve done so well, encouraging them to embrace their first World Cup. I think it’s important that we don’t change things just because it’s a big tournament.”
“Covid has taught us a lot about having to smile sometimes in situations, accepting that it’s not going to be the ideal scenario every time you go somewhere. Hopefully, we can use that to our advantage.”
