England\u2019s World Cup preparations concluded with a five-run win in their final warm-up against India at Cardiff, in what will be a vital confidence-booster before their tournament opener against Sri Lanka on Friday evening.<\/p>\n
England hit 171 for six, including a half-century from Nat Sciver-Brunt \u2013 the most time the England captain has spent at the crease since she suffered a calf injury six weeks ago. \u201cShe looks back to her normal self after a little bit of a break,\u201d her teammate Amy Jones said, after sharing a 70-run partnership with her skipper. \u201cIt was great to see her whacking it everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Sciver-Brunt was also absent for the entire Indian inning, leaving Charlie Dean to take charge as vice-captain. Sciver-Brunt admitted after Monday\u2019s warm-up against Australia that she was feeling \u201crusty in the field\u201d, so her inability to cope with 20 overs out there is something of a concern before what is expected to be a heavy World Cup workload.<\/p>\n
With England conscious of the intense schedule, Lauren Bell and Sophie Ecclestone were rested on Wednesday, enabling Issy Wong and Tilly Corteen-Coleman to bowl a full allocation of four overs apiece. At the death, though, England\u2019s lack of bowling depth almost told: Richa Ghosh unleashed her arms and took Wong\u2019s penultimate over for 21, before smashing Linsey Smith for a huge six in the 20th.<\/p>\n
But Alice Capsey, taking the gloves for the first time in an England shirt, held her nerve to stump Richa and hand England the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got a bit close at the end there but I thought the way the girls closed out the game was brilliant,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt feels like everything\u2019s been ticked off. We\u2019re all really excited for Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were promising signs elsewhere for the World Cup hosts. Jones struck a confident half-century from the top of the order, and now looks set to open the batting after being preferred in both warm-ups ahead of the out-of-form Sophia Dunkley. England were also able to accelerate at the death, adding 67 runs in 35 balls after an hour\u2019s rain delay midway through their innings, as Dani Gibson clobbered an unbeaten 30 off 12 balls.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpening the batting can be a rollercoaster, but I\u2019m riding the wave into our next game,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
Charlie Dean of England speaks to teammates in a huddle during the T20 World Cup warm-up match between England and India. Photograph: Alex Davidson-ICC\/ICC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Capsey finished her first match as wicketkeeper with zero byes conceded and with a catch and a stumping under her belt, having stood up to the bowling of Dani Gibson and clung on to a deflection from the bat of Bharti Fulmali. Jones\u2019s place is not under threat, but Capsey\u2019s tidy performance at Cardiff at least provides some reassurance that England\u2019s official reserve wicketkeeper can perform the role competently should she be needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was brilliant,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI\u2019ve previously only caught little glimpses in training, but she looks like a natural.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell and Ecclestone are both expected to return against Sri Lanka, meaning England will be at full strength. \u201cIt feels like everything\u2019s been ticked off. We\u2019re all really excited for Friday,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, said her team felt ready for their own World Cup opener against Pakistan at Edgbaston on Sunday, in spite of the loss, which followed Monday\u2019s win against West Indies: \u201cThese two practice games have given us a lot of confidence. How Richa batted is a big positive for us \u2013 she\u2019s a match-winner. Hopefully we play fearless cricket in our first game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England\u2019s World Cup preparations concluded with a five-run win in their final warm-up against India at Cardiff, in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-727834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}