England's Luke Wright says that confidence is high in the camp prior to Thursday's clash against South Africa.
Courage comes from team support, says Luke Wright
What a win against Pakistan! We certainly needed it after Friday's defeat to the Netherlands and fortunately we managed to put in a brilliant performance that saw us thought to the Super 8's stage of this T20 World Cup.
All eleven players stuck their hands up and delivered, which means we have now headed up to Nottingham for another massive game versus South Africa on Thursday.
I guess the loss against Holland was one of those things that happen in T20 cricket - and I see they have just crumbled against Pakistan. In this shortened version of the game you are just inches from being a hero or a villain depending which side of the rope the balls lands.
Everything Holland tried against us paid off last Friday, but you have to take your hats off to them for a brilliant win.
I'm really enjoying opening up with Ravi Bopara and I think our contrasting styles make us a difficult prospect to bowl at. Ravi is technically superb which generates runs at a decent rate whereas my role is to take more chances and try to take the bowlers on any way I can.
Confidence
It does take a bit of courage to play like this but it's made easier knowing the dressing room and coaching staff are backing you and willing for your innings to come off.
I got a lot of confidence from our warm up games, particularly my innings of 70 odd versus the West Indies. That has set me up and I was delighted to get some more runs on Sunday along with a wicket, and to receive the man of the match award was the icing on the cake.
As a team we take a lot of confidence from Sunday's win and in a way getting through to the next stage of the competition the hard way - by losing to Holland and having to beat Pakistan who were in the last T20 World Cup Final - has made us stronger as a team because of the pressure involved.
We played some good cricket before this World Cup, and confidence remains high in the dressing room.
I really enjoy playing at Trent Bridge, where we will take on South Africa, and have celebrated a few trophies on the ground with Sussex after wins over Notts. It's a popular ground with the England team as well and tomorrow we will be practising there and fine tuning our skills to ensure we're ready come Thursday evening.
I reckon the atmosphere at the Oval was the best I've ever played in. Although there was a lot of Pakistani support, the England support drowned it out and that sort of thing gives you a massive boost on the field. We are hoping Trent Bridge will be the same, so come on England fans, get behind your team!
Until next time, take care.
Luke
