Beaumont: More to come from England

The England opener believes they have not yet shown what they are capable of ahead of their semi-final against India on Friday

Tammy Beaumont reckons that England still have more to give ahead of their ICC Women's World T20 semi-final against India on Thursday.

England's run to the semi-final has been blighted by rain, with half of their games not going the full distance, but with the group stage gone they are now only one game away from the final.

"We’re really excited about India, and about playing in a World Cup semi-final,” she explained. "At one point when we were in Saint Lucia we weren’t sure if we were going to play any cricket at all because of the rain so it feels a bit of a bonus to have made it through.”

^{Rain affected half of England's group matches}

A loss to host side the West Indies in the final game of the group stage meant that England finished second, with some questions being raised about the English batting after three wickets were lost for two runs in eight balls.

“We have played some really good cricket but I think there’s more to come from us," she said. "We’ve only had one chance to bat first and we maybe haven’t scored the weight of runs yet that we would have liked to but that also means we’ve got a chance to go out there and really nail it with the bat.

“We’ve got so many talented batters - we chased down 200 against India in April - we just need it to click on the day or for someone to come off and go big."

There have been some suggestions that England's semi-final opposition presents a more simple obstacle than Australia, who they would have faced if they had beaten the West Indies. However, Beaumont was clear that this would still be a tight contest.

“I don’t think you can say that at all. It will be a very difficult match,” she said. “India are a side we know really well. We played them in a tri-series in April and we know how dangerous they can be. Their bowlers are very effective and they’ve been one of the most in-form teams in this tournament.

“You look at someone like Harmanpreet Kaur and you know you’ve got a player who’s seriously dangerous. And then there’s Smriti Mandhana who obviously had a fantastic Kia Super League. They’re big wickets, we know that, and we want to be ready for them.”

^{Harmanpreet Kaur scored a century against New Zealand}

England faced India in the World Cup final in 2017, and nine of the players in the squad for that tournament are in the squad for the Women' World T20, with Beaumont amongst that group. Three of England's new faces, Sophia Dunkley, Kirstie Gordon and Linsey Smith have all shown what they can contribute at different points and their attitude has delighted Beaumont.

“I’ve been so impressed by the three new faces," she remarked. "Sophia was brilliant in our last time and Kirstie has probably been our most threatening bowler. Linsey’s chipped in really well as well and what’s great is that we know they’ve got the attitude now to stand up and deliver when the pressure’s on.

“The semi-final will be a massive game so it’s important we all know how to step up when the heat is on, keep our composure and do our jobs.” 

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