England prepared ‘to take fight’ to South Africa in crucial World Cup clash

Heather Knight’s team take on the Proteas in a repeat of the Women’s T20 semi-fnal last year which they lost by six runs

England triumphed in their T20 World Cup opener but can expect a sterner test against South Africa (REUTERS)

Cape Town will be on the minds of both teams when England take on South Africa at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup – a year on from a dramatic semi-final.

On home soil last year, the Proteas women reached the final of the tournament for the very first time thanks to a six-run win over England at Newlands.

Now the teams meet again, this time in a Group B encounter, with both one win from one in the United Arab Emirates.

A second success would be a giant step towards qualification for the final four, and England are only too aware of how close it was last February.

Linsey Smith, who has battled back to be part of this England side after five years out of the team, admitted that the team have spoken a lot about the semi-final defeat.

She said: “It’s obviously spoken about quite a fair bit that game. I think the girls took a lot of learning from it.

“We’re just looking forward to taking them on again in a World Cup. Obviously, they had a really strong win the other day and we’re going to have to be at our best again to take the fight to them really and hopefully get another win.”

The slow left-armer last appeared in this tournament back in 2018, and had not featured for England since 2019.

But coach Jon Lewis was impressed enough by her domestic form to recall Smith, who then shone as a late inclusion against Bangladesh, taking two for 11 in the 21-run victory.

Linsey Smith took 2-11 in England’s opening fixture against Bangladesh (AP)

And even though there were times when she wondered if she would ever get back to this point, Smith never gave up on her dream.

She added: “It was six years ago now I think so a long time and I took a bit of time away from the England setup which I think just helped me grow and do a lot of self-reflection and think about how I wanted to be and how I wanted to play the game.

“It was tough but I knew I always wanted to get back in an England shirt and kind of do myself a bit of justice. I felt like I didn’t play very well six years ago so it was nice to get another chance to do that in a World Cup.”

England take a South Africa team that is full of confidence after a thumping opening win over the West Indies.

Chasing 119, skipper Laura Wolvaardt and opening partner Tazmin Brits both scored unbeaten half-centuries in a 10-wicket success.

And for Brits, who got back-to-back golden ducks in the warm-up matches, the challenge now will be dealing with England’s slow bowlers – Smith included.

England’s spinners will play a big role in their clash with South Africa (REUTERS)

She said: “If there’s no pace on the ball it makes it very difficult to reach the boundaries and some of the fields are actually a bit slower as well so technically that’s the best way to go but because of that we are prepping for that.

“We definitely watched that (England v Bangladesh) game. I think that wicket seems even slower than the Dubai week that we actually played on.

“So, we took that at note and of course being at night I heard the lights might be a bit of a struggle, being the lights being around the stadium.

“As everyone knows, that’s always a tough one (against England). But we don’t want to leave it for the last game. If we can make sure we win all of the games, of course, that will be ideal to make sure we guarantee that spot in the semi-final.”