England are drawing confidence from a run of tight victories ahead of their Twenty20 World Cup semi-final against India, captain Harry Brook said, adding that his team’s resilience would be a key factor on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium.
England’s route to the last four has not all been smooth sailing, with the two-time champions advancing after wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand, against whom they needed 43 runs off the final 18 balls to get over the line.
“We’ve won tight games, which in World Cups prove to be very important, and we’ve got a lot of confidence going into the deeper parts of the game,” Brook told reporters on Wednesday.
“We’ve won games, which we probably shouldn’t have won, and it just feels like we’ve never really been out of any game so far, which holds you in good stead in these world competitions.
Brook’s own form has underpinned that message.
The 27-year-old struck a 50-ball hundred to lift England past Pakistan in Pallekele.
“I don’t believe that we need a perfect game to win the competition. The games that we have won have been nowhere near perfect, and we still managed to get the wins convincingly in some of them, and then tight in the other games,” Brook said.
“It’s just the unity that we’ve had to be able to get across the line, the belief that everybody’s shown throughout the games and the calmness that we’ve had when the bowlers have stood at the top of the mark.”
Former captain Jos Buttler’s form has been scrutinised, with the opener making only 62 runs in seven matches.
Buttler hit for an extended period in the nets on Wednesday.
“I think leaving him alone is probably the best thing to do. He’s been a powerhouse cricketer for many years… there should be no reason to question why he’s in the team,” Brook said.
England’s top two wicket-takers in the tournament are spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson.
“I feel like England always get a bad rap about playing against spin. We’ve gone to Sri Lanka and we’ve won six games in a row against subcontinent sides, who are very good in their own backyard,” Brook said.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence playing on turning pitches. (Varun) Chakravarthy is one of the best bowlers in the world, and I’ll try my best to face him and score as many runs as I can against him.”
The winners on Thursday will advance to Sunday’s final against South Africa or New Zealand, who meet in the other semi-final on Wednesday.
(Reuters)
