England Women suffered a shock 10-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in their final warm-up match before the T20 World Cup
Wednesday 19 February 2020 12:24, UK
Heather Knight says England received "a little kick up the backside" ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup after being thrashed by Sri Lanka in their final warm-up.
England - who begin their T20 World Cup campaign against South Africa on Sunday, live on Sky Sports - suffered a chastening 10-wicket defeat in Adelaide as Sri Lanka coasted past their total of 122-9 in 12.3 overs.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Atapattu (78 off 50) blazed five sixes and eight fours - but England's top-scorers were Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont, who struck 23 apiece.
"It might give us a little kick up the backside, which might not be a bad thing," said England captain Knight. "It was a disappointing performance, but I'd rather we got it out of the way ahead of the World Cup.
"Their spinners bowled well and drove it into the pitch. We probably didn't adapt quick enough, and when you add in a few run-outs it gets more difficult. Chamari then batted really well and took the game away from us.
"We're still in a good place. We've played a lot of good cricket over here and we need to take that into our first game against South Africa."
Knight later told the ICC: "We were way off the pace. "We weren't ruthless enough with the bat which can cost you in T20 cricket with it being such a quick game. I think we'll learn a lot of lessons."
England, who rejigged their middle order, were restricted by Atapattu (3-21) and Sashikala Siriwardena (4-22), before Atapattu dominated an unbroken century partnership with Hasini Madushika (29).
Knight's side's heavy defeat came just two days after they had eased to a six-wicket win over New Zealand in their first warm-up match.
England and South Africa are joined in Group B by Thailand, Pakistan and West Indies, with hosts and favourites Australia placed alongside India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Group A.
Watch every game of the the ICC Women's T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports. The tournament begins on Friday with Australia versus India (7.30am, Sky Sports Cricket).
