Charlotte Edwards has vowed England’s “best cricket” is yet to come ahead of their World Cup showdown with co-hosts India on Sunday.
England were indebted to the Colombo rain on Wednesday after Pakistan ripped through their top order to reduce them to 79-7.
Wet weather in the Sri Lankan capital halted Pakistan’s pursuit of 113 for victory after just 6.1 overs as England stretched their unbeaten start to the tournament to five games.
After four wins and a no result, just two more points are required for England to book their ticket to the semi-finals – and Edwards has her sights set on securing them against India in Indore.
“We’ve spoken about it, it would be silly not to,” said the England head coach. “One of my messages to the team is that we don’t want to dwell on it.
“We’re going to a new venue against a new team. We’ve learned some lessons from the last four games for all facets of our game.
“We’re in a really good position. If someone had said to me a few weeks ago that you’d be in this position, having been unbeaten, I’d have taken it.
“I think our best cricket is in front of us, which is the most positive thing.”
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Highlights from the Women’s Cricket World Cup match in Colombo as rain denied Pakistan a famous victory over England.
Edwards backs batters to deliver
Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt struck a century against Sri Lanka and Heather Knight added 79 not out against Bangladesh, but the majority of England’s batters are still searching for form.
Asked if she was confident others would step up after being found wanting against Pakistan, Edwards backed England’s first-choice line-up to deliver.
“I’m not concerned,” she added. “You have days where it doesn’t go particularly well. I’m disappointed that we didn’t adapt quickly enough, but certainly not concerned.
“You’ve got to move on quite quickly in tournament cricket. If you look at South Africa, the first game of the tournament, they bowled out for 69 and they have played brilliantly since.
“With the top order we’ve got, the experience we’ve got in our top order, our best cricketer is in front of us.”
England thrashed India by 152 runs in a warm-up fixture last month but lost both one-day and T20 home series to the same opposition this summer.
Former Mumbai Indians head coach Edwards, who was only appointed in April, does not place too much weight on those matches.
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Edwards added: “We’ve been lucky that we’ve played a lot against India in the last 12 months. We have a lot of experiences, but this is a one-off game and in India, in a World Cup, it’s a massive game.
“We know the threats of India, but equally we have some great players in our group. I am sure it is set up to be a fantastic game.
“We know from the summer how tough a challenge India are going to be and certainly in home conditions, but that’s exciting.
“We’re excited to be here, there will be a lot supporting India, but two points up for grabs for both teams and two important points.”
England’s World Cup results and fixtures
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