Nasser Hussain confused by England batting order in T20 World Cup defeat
Nat Sciver says England "not too far away" as they head into Thailand game on Wednesday
Monday 24 February 2020 06:53, UK
Nasser Hussain feels England may need to tweak their batting order after losing their Women's T20 World Cup opener to South Africa in Perth.
England posted just 123-8 at The WACA - a total the Proteas topped with two deliveries to spare - with usual top-order player Tammy Beaumont placed at No 7.
Beaumont - who has batted in the top three in 42 of her 65 T20I innings - made nine from six balls after coming in during the 18th over.
"I am a bit unsure about England's tactics, to be honest, and I don't understand the batting line-up," Hussain said during the innings break on Sunday.
"Beaumont ended up at No 7 and Lauren Winfield at No 8. It's a well-known fact in T20 cricket that your No 7 bats six deliveries so you may as well have bowlers down there."
Nat Sciver, who top-scored for England with 50 from 41 deliveries, says England are "not far away" as a batting unit as they prepare for back-to-back games in Canberra, against Thailand on Wednesday and Pakistan on Friday, before rounding off the group phase against West Indies in Sydney on Sunday, March 1 - will all games live on Sky Sports.
"[The defeat] puts the pressure on," said Sciver. "In terms of our team, hopefully a bit of pressure will bring the best out of us. We are not far away as a batting unit - just a few things to tweak.
"We now have two games in the same place and can hopefully go out there and play positively, play with freedom.
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"I know there can be nerves in the first game - I was nervous two days ago watching the first game [between Australia and India]. Nerves can be good, but they can also be bad sometimes."
Reflecting on England's defeat, in which only Sciver, Amy Jones (23) and Fran Wilson (14) made double figures, captain Heather Knight said: "I thought we started very well.
"Jones set the tone brilliantly for us and it was those wickets towards the back end of the powerplay and through the middle that really cost us.
"We faced a lot of dot balls and that is something we are going to have to work on and improve.
"The pitch was a little slower than we thought, not the quick WACA surface we expected, so 135-140 would have been a good score.
"We had to believe we could defend the total. We have the bowlers and character to do that and we gave it absolutely everything out there.
She batted brilliantly in the anchor role. She bats, she bowls, she fields, and has become a real leader in this group. We are really pleased to have her back from a little niggle and we are expecting big things from her.
"We fought hard and credit to the bowlers for taking it deep and almost winning it but ultimately we didn't have enough runs. We need to pick ourselves up quite quickly as every game is must-win for us now.
"We will assess the game, try to park it very quickly and move on."
Watch England's second game in the T20 World Cup, against debutants Thailand, live on Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports Main Event from 3.30am on Wednesday.
