‘You don’t have enough time to make any slip-ups’: England’s Heather Knight wants her team out of the blocks quicker as they open T20 World Cup campaign against West Indies
England captain Heather Knight wants her side to start the T20 World Cup fast Early defeat cost England in the latter stages of the tournament three years ago England open their World Cup campaign against West Indies on Saturday
England captain Heather Knight has urged her team to be quicker out the blocks as they begin their women’s Twenty20 World Cup campaign versus West Indies on Saturday.
Defeat in the opening fixture of the 2020 event in Australia came back to haunt England when a tropical storm wiped out their semi-final and opponents India progressed by virtue of being group winners, and therefore the higher-placed team, in the previous round.
Knight’s team also lost three straight matches before turning things around and reaching the final at the most recent recent 50-over World Cup last year.
Ahead of the match in Paarl, Knight said: ‘With T20 World Cups, we have learned previously, you don’t have enough time to make any slip-ups.
‘We want to really start fast, hit the ground running and almost go over the top in how we want to do things. We’ve talked about having a clear plan, and being really brave with it.’
England warmed up for the tournament with wins over hosts South Africa and New Zealand earlier this week.
Meanwhile, West Indies will give a late fitness test to former captain Stafanie Taylor before naming their XI.
England’s Heather Knight wants her team to start fast, after early defeat cost them last time
England had two warm-up wins in the build-up to their T20 World Cup opener on Saturday
Former West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor faces a late fitness test ahead of England match