‘Winning momentum is vital, isn’t it?’
Buoyed by the emphatic win over defending champions West Indies, England will look to continue their winning momentum when they face Bangladesh in a tricky Super 12 clash of the T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi today.
Their bowling unit was right on the job as the Eoin Morgan-led England bundled out an otherwise lacklustre West Indies for a paltry 55 in 14.2 overs before cantering home in 8.2 overs. Against an opposition who are familiar with the sluggish sub-continent conditions and capable of producing upsets, Morgan will ill-afford to rest on the laurels.
"We take lots of confidence from the first game. It's absolutely fantastic to get a win on the board and we know West Indies didn't play anywhere near their best. We focused on ourselves, and I thought everything we wanted to happen came off brilliantly well and we take that confidence," said England vice-captain Jos Buttler in a pre-match press conference yesterday.
"But now we prepare well for our next match against Bangladesh, and we'll be fully ready for the big challenge that they will throw at us," he added.
"Winning momentum is vital, isn't it? Sort of the way the tournament is set out; there's not much room for mistakes. The beauty of T20 cricket is anyone can beat anyone on their day, and an individual can win a match for their team," Buttler continued.
With the match starting in the afternoon, the reigning ODI world champions will be tested in the oppressive heat of Abu Dhabi where temperature soars above 32C.
"No, we prepare well and we are a very level team, don't get too high, don't get too low and we'll try to bring our level of intensity which always brings our best level to the game," said the right-hander, who has been a brute force for England in limited-overs cricket at the top of the order for quite a few years.
"We prepare specifically for the opposition and so for the conditions we face, the spins, it's going to play a huge part in this tournament and of course Bangladesh have a couple of left-arm spinners. Been practicing against that a lot in the nets and trying to get some plans in place," he responded when asked about their preparation against Bangladesh spinners.
Teams have been successful in chasing so far in the World Cup at this venue, with three out of four games being won by the team batting second.
England's build-up to the tournament has centred around the unavailability of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran, but they hardly missed their star trio with Moeen Ali providing the winning edge.
Comments