Nouvelle-Zélande:England need to beat a “big side” such as Sri Lanka if they are to get their ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 campaign up and running, paceman Chris Woakes said on Saturday. Eoin Morgan‘s side face Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions, in Wellington on Sunday with the team still looking for their first Pool A win over a Test side this tournament.
England started the World Cup with a 111-run thrashing by arch-rivals Australia in Melbourne and things got even worse when they suffered an eight-wicket defeat by New Zealand, the other tournament co-hosts, when they last played in Wellington.
With group games against perennial strugglers Bangladesh and tournament newcomers Afghanistan to come, England could qualify for the quarter-finals without defeating a major side given four teams out of the seven in Pool A will head into the knockout phase.
“It’s important that we do show up against the big teams,” said Woakes. “You know, obviously tomorrow is a big game having already lost two in the tournament already. Sri Lanka are a good side, so we know we’ve got to be on our game. We want to get through to the quarter-finals and you’re going to have to beat big teams on the way. Tomorrow (Sunday) is obviously a big opportunity for us.”
Woakes is England’s leading bowler at the tournament so far, with five wickets in three matches at an average of under 20.
“I think since arriving in Australia I felt like I’ve hit my straps pretty well, executed plans reasonably well,” said Woakes, who has proved far more economical in the World Cup thus far than England spearhead seamers James Anderson (averaging 67) and Stuart Broad (58.50). Top 10 bowlers in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
“I’ve had an off day here or there, but I suppose you have those every now and then, but in general I feel pretty good, and in good confidence actually going into the Sri Lanka game, so I feel like I’m in a good place.”
Last week, England were dismissed for just 123 in under 34 overs by New Zealand, with Tim Southee taking seven for 33.
Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum then struck the fastest-ever World Cup fifty, off 18 balls, as England raced to their meagre target in 12.2 overs. Top 10 batsmen in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
“Obviously last time we were there it didn’t exactly go to plan,” said Woakes, who escaped the New Zealand onslaught with two wickets for eight runs in three overs, although he was the fourth bowler used.
“We were pretty poor. We obviously didn’t get a total on the board, and Tim Southee bowled exceptionally well, as well. Hopefully we’re past that now and can put that behind us, but it would be good to get back there and show people what we can do.”
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.