Unfazed by Pakistan scare, England head coach Edwards says best yet to come

Indore, Oct 18 (PTI) England head coach Charlotte Edwards on Saturday brushed aside concerns over her side's recent "disappointing" batting collapse against Pakistan, saying their "best is yet to come" in the ongoing Women's ODI World Cup.

England were staring at an upset at the hands of Pakistan after being reduced to 79 for 7 in Colombo. Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana had dished out an exceptional swing bowling show, before rain intervened to save England from a potential defeat.

"In a tournament like this, you have to move on quickly. We've reviewed that last game, Pakistan played really well, but we're not dwelling on it. Our best is yet to come,” Edwards said on the eve of England's crucial clash against hosts India here.

Asked if the batting collapse worried her, Edwards said she was disappointed rather than concerned.

"You'll have days when things don't go well. I was disappointed that we didn't adapt quickly enough to the conditions, but there's no concern in the camp." England's batting frailties have been exposed twice this World Cup, having also slumped to 78 for 5 against Bangladesh. Yet, Edwards confirmed that the side will continue to back its young middle order of Emma Lamb, Alice Capsey and Sophia Dunkley, despite the experienced Danni Wyatt-Hodge warming the bench.

"Emma Lamb, Sofia Dunkley and Alice Capsey performed brilliantly throughout our warm-up phases and the back-end of our English summer, so, yeah, it's hugely competitive.

"We're obviously really happy with how our order is performing. We want to back the batting order that we selected at the start of the tournament, because that's the one we feel will give us success." Looking ahead to Sunday's high-stakes match against India, Edwards said England are aware of the challenge of facing the hosts in their own conditions.

"We're focusing on India and we know from the summer how tough a challenge India are going to be and certainly in home conditions, but that's exciting.

"We've been lucky that we've played a lot against India over the last 12 months and obviously in the English summer, so we've got lots of experience playing against India but this is, I guess, a one-off game now, isn't it? "In India, in the World Cup, a massive game tomorrow which we're all looking forward to and we'll be preparing like any other game." Edwards, who worked with young India pacer Kranti Goud during her stint with the Mumbai Indians in the WPL, praised the 22-year-old's rapid rise.

"I met Kranti when she was a net bowler for Mumbai two years ago. To see her now, playing for India and performing the way she has, is brilliant. She had a fantastic English summer and she’ll be one to watch tomorrow," Edwards said.

The England coach also backed her side's spin-heavy attack, led by world No. 1 Sophie Ecclestone, to play a decisive role on Indian pitches.

"Left-arm spin has been quite prolific in women's cricket over the last few years, probably more in the T20 format, but I think with this tournament being in India, our reasons for picking two left-back spinners was because they knew they'd be really effective.

"We've got two of the best in the world and one, well, certainly the best in the world in Sophie Eccelstone so it'll be great to have her back out here tomorrow." PTI APA APA PDS PDS