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Louise Thomas
Editor
Nat Sciver-Brunt insisted England are focusing on what they can control at the Women’s T20 World Cup and not on trying to avoid a semi-final against defending champions Australia.
The two nations will be in separate last-four showdowns if they finish top of their respective groups, and England moved a step closer to fulfilling their side of the bargain by beating South Africa.
Sciver-Brunt’s unbeaten 48 off 36 balls helped to negotiate a tricky chase of 125 with seven wickets and four balls to spare on a slow and low Sharjah pitch as England made it two from two in Group B.
Australia’s bid received a shot in the arm after India’s shock defeat by New Zealand last week although Sciver-Brunt is adamant England are not paying too much notice of matters outside their bounds.
“We know that result happened and follow all the games but we’re thinking about ourselves and our next game,” said Sciver-Brunt, whose side play their penultimate group match against Scotland on Sunday.
“We’re not thinking too much about what the other group’s doing in terms of positioning in that group.
“We’ve got a five-day gap now. We’ll enjoy some time off and make sure we’re back on it for that third game.”
England had lost to South Africa at both the 2020 and 2023 Women’s T20 World Cups and memories of an agonising six-run defeat in the semi-finals last year were still fresh.
We didn't finish our World Cup in the best of ways against South Africa last time so we're really happy to get over the line— Nat Sciver-Brunt
But England had underwhelmed with the bat in Saturday’s win against Bangladesh, registering just 118 for seven and it was their spinners who made sure the campaign did not get off to a false start.
Their spinners again came to the fore as Sophie Ecclestone collected two for 15 and Sarah Glenn one for 18, with South Africa never truly able to put the hammer down as they posted 124 for six.
It was the first 120-plus total in the tournament at the venue but Sciver-Brunt revealed this was a better batting strip, despite England stumbling to 15 for one after the first five overs.
Alice Capsey’s 19 off 16 balls was a useful cameo before Sciver-Brunt put on 64 in 55 balls alongside Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who followed up her 41 against Bangladesh with an equally important run-a-ball 43.
The pair rode their luck at times, with several false shots dropping in front of catchers, but they manipulated the field well and ran hard between the wickets to steadily, if unfashionably, accumulate.
Wyatt-Hodge’s dismissal with 11 off the last two overs needed was largely irrelevant to the result and Sciver-Brunt flashed sumptuously over the covers for her sixth four to get England home.
“We didn’t finish our World Cup in the best of ways against South Africa last time so we’re really happy to get over the line,” said Sciver-Brunt.
“On a slightly easier wicket, we batted a bit better. We wanted to make some changes and run really well; that was the most important thing, to have that intent through the middle.
“The general plan was to have great intent with running and make sure you’re pushing the fielders and using that momentum to create boundaries. Keeping that scoreboard ticking over was really important.
“The conditions are tough, we knew they would be. I think we’ve done some really great learning over these two games and hopefully we can take that into the third game.”
