Semi-final the minimum for England – Edwards

Coach Charlotte Edwards says that England’s only realistic expectation is reaching the semi-final of the Women’s World Cup.

England lost to Australia in the semi-final and then the group stage at the most recent T20 World Cups, but they made it to the final of the previous edition in 2022.

After a 16-0 Ashes drubbing at the beginning of the year and a mixed summer, where they thrashed a weak West Indies side before being exposed against India in T20 and one-day international series defeats, Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt’s side entered the tournament as underdogs.

In their two warm-up games, they have defeated favorites India and Australia, which Edwards believes will boost their self-assurance and chances of achieving the knockout status.

When asked what England’s bare minimum would be, Edwards responded, “We want to be in the semi-final knockout phases, and we know anything can happen there.”

Co-hosts India and Sri Lanka kick off the World Cup on Tuesday, while England kick off their campaign against South Africa on Friday.

England will face India and Australia in Indore on October 19 and 22, respectively, in a semi-final matchup between all eight competing teams.

Whether it’s a warm-up game or not, Edwards, who helped England win the World Cup in 2009, said, “To win is always special.

“But the way we handled it is more pleasing because the game was put on a lot of pressure.”

England’s inability to perform under pressure was the subject of a lot of the criticism they received following the T20 World Cup and the Ashes, especially since they have a strong record against lower-ranked teams in bilateral series but haven’t won a global championship or an Ashes series since 2014, which is why they haven’t won a global tournament since 2017 or a series since 2014.

England are not the favorites, but Edwards, who succeeded Jon Lewis in April, claims that their understanding of their 50-over game is expanding.

“I’ve definitely come here to win the tournament,” Edwards said, “but India is always going to be the favorites,” he said.

We know where we are, but we also know that any team can win, and I believe we have shown that over the past week, but we must continue to do so. In large events, we must perform it under great pressure.

“We have a blueprint for how to get big scores, big partnerships, set up the game for the final 20 overs, and the players are starting to understand batting time,” said one player.

After watching England defeat Canada in the Rugby World Cup, Edwards also mentioned the team’s desire to bring more success, and he recalled that the team came together to watch the Red Roses defeat Canada at Twickenham.

“Those group of girls really gave us an outlet for inspiration.” I believe they have been fantastic, and we should be able to build on that now, Edwards said.