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England’s disappointment at not qualifying for their first T20 World Cup semi-final in seven editions was evident both on and off the pitch. England’s disappointment at not making it through to the knockout stages was evident after a well orchestrated campaign that included a two-week camp in Abu Dhabi and a game where they had to pretend to be without their captain Heather Knight. England had not missed the knockout stages since 2010.
England let catches and their shoulders fall. It was their only match in Dubai and their first experience facing the ring of fire, even though it was their final group phase match. They dropped all five of Qiana Joseph’s catches, the West Indies opener, and she went on to score a crucial, game-winning half-century.
All 10 sides, with the exception of Scotland, who trained in Sharjah prior to their crucial match against Australia, have made use of the ICC Academy as a training facility. India’s workout, which included a middle practice, was held on Saturday following the New Zealand vs. Sri Lanka game.
When Lewis was asked if he knew about India’s practice he said: “I didn’t know they did that. I didn’t know. India can pretty much do what they like, can’t they? Is that how it works?”
After winning their previous three games by progressively greater margins, England would have considered that match to be theirs; but, their net run-rate made the West Indies encounter essentially a quarter-final. With the form England entered the competition with, Lewis referred to this as a “pretty brutal” manner to go.
England has won 21 of 28 games since the last T20 World Cup, when they were eliminated in the semifinals. This includes winning the T20 portion of the Ashes and an 11-game winning streak over Pakistan, New Zealand, and Ireland. With 17 wins from 22 games, Australia is the only side participating in this World Cup with a higher victory %. With such figures in mind, it wouldn’t be hyperbolic to suggest that England had realistic expectations of making it out of the group stage.
With a few hard hits that turned out to be half-chances, Joseph shown his willingness to take chances. After she edged her first four, Sophia Dunkley dropped her on the boundary, she got a leading edge that landed safely, hit a ball that was just past backward point, and then top-edged a sweep that did not carry to a short fine.
The fielders in England were desperate and soon too exhausted to hang on, even to simpler possibilities. At one point, Alice Capsey gave Joseph a simple chance and skied one straight up and again at deep mid-wicket.
They also came apart in other ways. Ecclestone and Bell bowled tight overs after the powerplay, but Maia Bouchier bowled two overs in which Joseph was dismissed twice. She held her head in her hands at one point, and her teammates’ looks of incredulity were evident. Lewis realised at this time that something was off.
“It’s not a reaction you want as a coach when you’re on the sidelines. It seemed like maybe after six or seven overs we were starting to think, ‘Oh crikey, we’re up against it here,’ and you could see a lot of the players just starting to drift off. Especially with our energy in the field and our tempo – we played a lot slower today.”
During the drink break, Lewis walked out on his own to defuse the situation. It was almost too late by then. After the interval, Joseph reached fifty, but Bouchier dropped her once more before Danni Wyatt-Hodge managed to hold on to one. Bouchier refrained from attending the joyous gathering. Moreover, England withdrew Matthews and Deandra Dottin, who was bowled by Sophie Ecclestone, the player who incited their little altercation, but she was too irritated to give a damn about bragging rights.
England departed as a side that was aiming for the knockout stages and returned home early, realising that they just “weren’t at our best today.”