Women's World Cup: After Sealing Semis Spot, Nat Sciver-Brunt Lauds England's Calm Execution

ODI World Cup: England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt hailed her team’s composure and calm execution after a thrilling four-run win over India at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday secured their place in the semi-finals of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup.

The victory, built on Heather Knight’s match-defining 109 and a disciplined bowling effort at the death, saw England withstand a strong challenge from the hosts in front of a packed Diwali-eve crowd. “So, so happy. I think everyone just showed how calm they were and really clear on what they wanted to do.”

“I think we knew throughout the bowling innings that we really needed to stick in. A partnership obviously happened with Harman and Smriti and they looked like they were going to chase it easily, but I think we knew if we could get a wicket at one end, we could really put them under pressure,” said Nat at the conclusion of the game.

England’s fielding and death bowling shone under pressure in the final overs, but the team responded with precision. “It's something that we've spoken about before the game. We haven't really been tested towards the end of our innings with the ball. We wanted to be really prepared for that in terms of our skills and also the tactics. Everyone came in with some brilliant plans and executed brilliantly,” added Nat.

She also confirmed Linsey Smith was always slated to bowl the final over, ahead of Sophie Ecclestone. “She (Smith) was always going to bowl the last over. The one I wasn't sure about was when Sophie would bowl her last over. Obviously, I managed to get a wicket in my over, hopefully she could kill the game, which she did.”

Speaking of Heather’s knock, Nat said, “That innings was special. Just the use of her sweeps and reverse sweeps, made it so difficult for them. And she showed some brilliant intent throughout. I thought we could have got more runs. We probably messed up the other last 5-6 overs. But, crucial runs probably from Charlie as well, who is seeming pretty confident with bat in hand.”

England next face Australia and Nat sounded upbeat about it. “That's a massive game - one to really look forward to, to really get into the battle with the other top side. But we're so happy to obviously get the qualification for the knockout stages. We'll want to take those last two games and hopefully bring some confidence into the knockouts.”

Heather, Player of the Match for her knock of 109, reflected on her innings with satisfaction and a touch of frustration. “Yes, just got myself in and I felt like I wanted to put the accelerator down. I felt like we probably needed 300 on that pitch actually, because it was a quick outfield. A bit frustrated with how we got out in the end. I felt like if a setback wasn't there we'd have pushed it well above 300, really pleased.”

“I've seen 300 caps as well, so I was desperate to put in a sort of statement performance on a big cap occasion, pleased that I did that. I think it was a tiny bit slow maybe at the start, but definitely good compared to the pitches we've had in terms of the amount of spin. Felt like I had a lot more boundary options and yeah, just nice to be able to free up a little bit,” she said.

Asked about her effective sweep shots, Heather stated, “So once I got myself in and began to play reverse sweeps, I got a couple of top edges, got lucky with those, but really pleased with sort of a match-defining innings. That's what I wanted after not contributing too much the last few games.”

“Just (using) different conditions. It just felt like it was really working for me today. I felt that my reverse was on, there was a gap there and obviously any sort of nudge on it, it sort of went away to the boundary and because it was a little bit sort of slow bounce, I felt down the ground quite hard, sometimes just on the day it just feels like the right option and you just keep sticking to it and it worked for me today.”

Asked about her effective sweep shots, Heather stated, “So once I got myself in and began to play reverse sweeps, I got a couple of top edges, got lucky with those, but really pleased with sort of a match-defining innings. That's what I wanted after not contributing too much the last few games.”

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“I've seen a slightly different role and, trying to find it quite well which is nice. They (Australia) are obviously a quality team that are doing really well in this competition and a good chance for us to test ourselves against the best team in the world. So, confidence high, we've qualified and ultimately we want to get towards the top end of the table come the semi-finals.”

Article Source: IANS