ICC T20 World Cup 2023: Team Preview – England

The England team has been on a huge winning run since their last tour against the West Indies, where they completely dominated the hosts by winning the ODI with scores standing 3-0 at the end. Even in the T20s, the West Indies were thrashed by the England Women as they ended up with the lead of 5-0 at the end of the tournament.

With this massive winning momentum, the team will look to carry forward the same for their World Cup campaign as well. The player of the tournament was Charlie Dean, the young off-spinning allrounder who ended up taking 11 wickets at 4.64 in the five T20 matches.

What could we expect?

The England Women’s team won the first T20 World Cup in 2009, then eight years later, they captured their third 50-over World Cup crown with a thrilling nine-run victory at Lord’s. Since then, they have been waiting for another major victory. Before they kick start their campaign with group stage matches, the team faced the host team South Africa in their first warm-up match, which was a high scoring one.

England started their blitzkrieg attack over the opponent bowlers and piled up 247-7 in 20 overs. Dunkley smashed it off in the start by scoring 59 runs from just 19 deliveries, followed by Alice Capsey and Natt Sciver, scoring 61 and 51, respectively. The hosts put up a good fight until the end but fell short of 18 runs. With Alice Capsey getting back into the squad, England held their nerves better to clinch their win in this close contest.

England recently swept a strong West Indies side by 3-0 and 5-0 margins in ODIs and T20Is. They have a solid winning percentage against all opponents except for their Ashes rivals Australia, with whom they are likely to square off in the semifinals or the championship game. They have a recent stellar record across all formats. With their recent form against West Indies across all formats, Heather Knight’s squad is among the favorites to win the World Cup championship.

Players to watch out for:

Sophie Ecclestone:

Since making her ODI and T20I debut in 2016, the top-ranked bowler Sophie Ecclestone has been outstanding for England, mainly to her ability to both limit scoring runs and take crucial wickets simultaneously. She has 86 wickets at a strike rate of 16.4 and an excellent economy of 5.90 with her consistently precise left-arm spin in T20Is. Her recent performance is also impressive against the West Indies as she was the most economical bowler with an economy of 3.06 only.

Nat Sciver:

This year, Nat Sciver has been fantastic in all formats. She helped England defeat South Africa in the only Test she played by scoring an undefeated 169*. She added 55 and 63 in ODIs and 84 runs from three T20I innings. When England advanced to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 final, she scored 436 runs at an average of 72.67, including an outstanding unbeaten 148 in the final championship match.

Having played 103 matches, she has scored 1959 runs with an average of more than 25 and striking at the rate of 112.45 in the T20 internationals. She has not been in the best of her forms recently with the bat, as her highest score was 20* against the West Indies in their previous T20 tour. She will look to bounce back and make a mark in the World Cup as she is one of the most experienced from the squad.

Alice Capsey:

Despite having a collarbone injury in December, Alice Capsey has been included in England Women’s squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Being a young top-order batter, she has given a strong comeback which was evident in her recent performances. She has scored 234 runs striking at 127.86 in her ten matches, with an average of 34 in T20s.

She has given her team a good start at the top in both warm-up matches, where she scored a solid 61 of 33 balls against South Africa and a quickfire 28 runs of just 13 deliveries with a strike rate of 215 against Newzealand. This performance from Capsey is a good sign for the England squad in their heist towards the World Cup trophy.

Sophia Dunkley:

Sophia Dunkley is another player to watch out for in the England squad for her consistent performance, especially in the T20 format. In her recent T20 performance against the West Indies women, her average was 30.8 in five matches. She scored 44 in just 30 deliveries striking at the rate of 141.9, which was her highest score of the tournament.

Having said this, she has also been in great touch in both the warm-up matches. She registered an undefeated 60 of 38 balls against Newzealand with a strike rate of 157 and smashed another half-century against the host team in just 19 deliveries with a thumping strike rate of more than 300.

England squad:

Heather Knight (c), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt

Fixtures:

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