England women seek a shift in momentum against India as it can help harden team ahead of the World Cup in India.
England women seek ‘momentum shift’ in deciding ODI against India.
The stakes are higher than a series victory if England and India enter Tuesday’s final ODI in Durham with an even score.
A win for England would enhance their confidence before the World Cup and provide a more significant endorsement of their new leadership than sweeping the West Indies aside could.
India is the co-hosts of that tournament, so a defeat would be more devastating, particularly as they dominated England in three of the five Twenty20 Internationals that came before this 50-over portion of the tour.
The England offspinner Charlie Dean, who was named Player of the Match in the fifth Twenty20 International after taking 3 for 23 as the home team defeated the visitors 3-2, believed that her team would advance if they won a crucial match against India.
“Losing the T20 series as well and the first game of the 50-overs, it would probably feel like a bit of a shift, just a bit of momentum maybe,” Dean said. “So to be able to pull that off would be something really special and it would give a lot of the girls a lot of confidence going to India playing some of the best teams.”
There were rumours that England, who went undefeated at home against Pakistan and eventual T20 world champions New Zealand, hadn’t been pushed enough in the lead-up to their elimination from the T20 World Cup group stage last year, along with India.
England won’t have that excuse when they play their first 50-over World Cup contest on October 3, which is nearly a year to the day since they played their first T20 encounter.
“Whenever we can challenge ourselves in pressure situations, especially in these bilateral series, we’re only going to benefit from it,” Dean said. “When you’re in a winning position, you don’t want to lose that and force yourself into places where you have to really be on it, but in a way it’s good learning and a way that you grow as players.
“We’ve seen bilateral series where we’ve done really well and then when it comes to World Cup games and tournament cricket, we’ve maybe not had momentum or not been clinical in those pressure moments. So any chances that we can emulate that in bilateral series is perfect practice.”