Beaumont all set for the hard yards in Colombo while also saying that her England side is ready for the graft as well.
Beaumont: England ready for hard graft in Colombo.
In this World Cup, India and Australia, two of the top batting teams in cricket, have had difficulty adapting to the R Premadasa pitch, falling to 124 for 6 and 76 for 7 against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, respectively. Against Bangladesh, Pakistan was bowled out for 129.
While Australia and England are the only two teams in the tournament without a loss, England had a difficult time chasing Bangladesh in Guwahati last time out. On a surface that might significantly close the gap, they now go to Colombo to play a Sri Lankan team that they have only lost to once in 18 WODIs.
“I think the conditions here, obviously it being a lot more spin-friendly, is certainly bringing all the teams together,” Tammy Beaumont said. “I think that you see a team like Bangladesh playing us in the last game, [they were] so well-disciplined with the ball that it makes life a lot harder when you can’t necessarily trust the spin off the wicket and go to those big release shots; you have to really earn your runs.
“I think that means that it’s a lot closer together for all the teams, and certainly the standard and depth of every single team has risen in the last four years. And we’re certainly going to see a few upsets in this World Cup, but hopefully not involving us.”
The lessons and lessons learnt from that innings, mainly being patient and taking the game deep, will probably be essential in how they handle the circumstances in Colombo, according to Beaumont. Heather Knight’s 79 off 111 against Bangladesh was the knock that got England over the finish line.
“What we spoke about mainly from Heather’s innings was about how patient she was and how precise she was in the balls she went to score off. And almost putting maybe your ego to one side and just trying to really graft one out for the team and be gritty.
“I think that’s the kind of words we’re trying to use, to make sure that we’re working incredibly hard. And we might have to sit in for a bit, but we know that the longer you bat, the easier it gets. It certainly seems like a lot of runs have been scored in the last 15 overs in a lot of games, and actually sometimes you’ve just got to try to make it to that point as a batter.”