Cricket
“When we lost three from three, there were a few tears in the changing room after the game. But the turning point was having a few meetings to just say we had nothing to lose now. Obviously it’s a great feeling getting through to the WC final and hopefully we can put on a show on Sunday.”
Saturday 2 April 2022 07:45, UK
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Sophie Ecclestone believes England are yet to play their best cricket ahead of the Women’s World Cup final against Australia on Sunday.
The spin bowler claimed a maiden international five-for as England powered into the final with a 137-run victory over South Africa.
Ecclestone finished with figures of 36-6 as the Proteas were bowled for 156, in a match where Danni Wyatt top scored with a maiden World Cup century in England’s 293 for eight.
England opened the tournament with three consecutive losses, but a fifth-straight victory has seen Heather Knight’s side set up a final with Australia, and Ecclestone believes England have not been at their best so far.
“I think when we lost three from three, there were a few tears in the changing room after the game,” the 22-year-old spinner said.
“I think everyone was very disappointed with how we’d gone, but I think the turning point was having a few meetings to just say that we had nothing to lose now, so just put what we do in training out into a game and go out with no fear.
“We still haven’t played our best cricket, so to get through to the final without playing our best cricket is obviously so good to see from this group.”
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England did not win a single game in the Ashes this winter and also lost to Australia in their World Cup opening game.
However, Ecclestone urged her side to put on a show in the final on Sunday in Wellington.
“Obviously it’s a great feeling getting through to the WC final. It’s something we’ve been working towards after we lost three games at the start so it’s great to get to the final and hopefully we can put on a show on Sunday,” she said.
“Beating the Aussies in the final, I can’t really put it into words after the Ashes we had. I really believe in this group and on our day we can definitely beat the Aussies – we’ve got a great chance.
“I know if we play our best cricket and our batters bat the way they can and the bowlers bowl the way they can, we’ve got such a great unit as a team, so we’ll just focus on ourselves and do the best we can.
“Hopefully we can go out and play our best cricket to prove the side we are.”
England skipper Danni Wyatt was named player-of-the-match from the semi-final victory, earning a crucial 129 with the bat after England had slipped to 126-4.
“I woke up this morning and really wanted to contribute to a win and that’s what happened,” she said.
“I obviously got dropped a few times, but that’s cricket and you’ve got to cash in on days like today so I’m really happy with how it went.
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“I’ve had a weird ODI career, been up and down like a yo-yo, but I’m happy to bat wherever the team want me to bat. Opening the batting is where I want to bat. It’s my job to get the team off to a good start and take the opportunity and [I’m] really chuffed with how it went today.
“Every game since that India game has been a knockout match. So today was like any other match that we’ve played in the last few games.
“To contribute to a win to get to the World Cup final, it doesn’t get much better than that.
“After those first three games, I didn’t think this would be the case, so we’ll prepare well for the final and we obviously really want to win that trophy.
“We’ve got one last push now. It’s been the longest trip we’ve ever had, so one last push and we want to take the trophy home with us and have a well-deserved holiday afterwards.”
On Ecclestone, Wyatt added: “Soph bowled exceptionally well again today, she’s an absolute GOAT and I’m so chuffed for her.
“That’s going to be the first of many five-fors and she was absolutely unplayable today, especially with that pace and dip, a bit of turn as well, that she was getting.
“I actually said to Nat [Sciver] on the pitch how she would go in men’s international cricket. I think she’s bowling exceptionally well and she’s not fun to face in the nets, that’s for sure.”
Watch the Women’s World Cup final between England and Australia live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup from 1am on Sunday.
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