How Smith inspired England’s statement win

In their World Cup opener against South Africa, England made a statement, and they did so tenfold.

Following their 16-0 Ashes victory in the T20 World Cup this year and their group-stage exit, the team was criticized.

In fact, almost every game they have played has been dominated by what had already gone so badly wrong before ever since that 2024 winter of discontent, news conferences, articles, and narrative.

The standard was broken by subsequent series victories over West Indies, but subsequent series defeats by India reopened the gaps.

Although it is still a long way to go before they won their first game of the tournament, their script needed to be rewritten, and that is exactly what was required.

After the Ashes, there has been a lot of talk about this England side, and they have obviously moved on,” said World Cup winner Alex Hartley on BBC Test Match Special.

Don’t get me wrong, they will have learned a lot from Australia, but they simply cannot have started to rewrite everything that has been said about them.

From the batters to the bowlers, to their fitness levels and fielding standards, every aspect of England’s setup had been questioned.

Even their inclusion in the Ashes squad, as well as their strict selection, made things difficult to believe. In contrast, new coach Charlotte Edwards and new captain Nat Sciver-Brunt were firm about things going to change.

Although Edwards had a short time to implement her plans, it didn’t work out against India at home, and on balance that was expected. However, Sciver-Brunt responded bravely and confidently that this side was “chalk and cheese” from the earlier versions, which came out.

The signs are encouraging, and while it would be grating to get carried away knowing a long tournament is ahead of England, it was a churn and cheese affair.

Left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who only made her ODI debut against West Indies this year after a few brief stints in and out of the T20 set-up, took the victory in Guwahati.

Before Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp were bowled by stunning drifting deliveries in the second over, the powerful top three in the format were removed by Smith, who was immediately caught and bowled by the opposing captain Laura Wolvaardt.

The 30-year-old was relentless in her quest to target the stumps, which was also true for the bowlers in general, and averaged 2.2 degrees of drift, which was the most of any game in her England career. They took six wickets with them, took just four runs, and then took just four more as they bowled 38 balls that would have hit the stumps.

Fellow slow left-armer Hartley said: “She’s an in-swing bowler, really. She’s an in-swing bowler. She can spin it, and she will spin a few, but because she has a very low arm, the ball’s trajectory follows you right-hander.

The ball lands into the pads as you see her begin to become wider. With someone like Smith, the inside edge is more of a threat than the outside, as we saw a few instances where South African batters prodded forward and the ball moved between the bat and pad.

She performs as a left-arm spinner, which means she experiences far more drift and movement through the air than most other spinners. Because she is skiddy and will challenge the lbw, she is a very difficult bowler to face because you have so few options. You can’t sweep her either.

South Africa could have given England a challenging opening that they simply couldn’t afford to fall short of.

But now that Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are all set to play their games against favorites India and Australia, they are in a fantastic position.

“Everyone needs to stay focused and not get too ahead of ourselves about where they’re at,” Hartley continued, noting that “nothing went wrong for England today, everything was in their favor.”