Silence please! The talking is over, for the time being, and England's global campaign is set to start. On the downside, they begin against a formidable opponent with South Africa as their first rival. The good news is, they kick off with a demanding fixture against South Africa. Victory today might boost England's confidence right away and legitimise the cautious confidence of their pre-tournament chatter.
Pre-Tournament Momentum
A superb victory versus the Aussies in their previous practice game has increased that confidence, although the individual performances of Alice Capsey (88 not out) and Sarah Glenn (taking 5 wickets for 32 runs) caused a small team-selection puzzle for Charlotte Edwards.
Edwards is a serial winner, so there’s no danger of the team having modest ambitions. But from a distance they find themselves in a somewhat uncommon situation where their tournament benchmark is quite obvious.
Tournament Expectations
Not making the last four might come as a small upset, even allowing for the progress made by usual lower-ranked teams. Advancing to the ultimate game ahead of either Australia or India, the primary frontrunners to claim the title, would be a serious achievement. And if England win it… we shouldn’t speculate further. It’s way too early for that sort of talk.
This fixture commences at 10:30 AM British Summer Time.
