Tammy Beaumont believes England have the tools to overcome the spinning conditions on a used pitch in Colombo but has warned: “It won’t look pretty.”
Charlotte Edwards’ side started the Women’s World Cup with back-to-back wins over South Africa and Bangladesh in Guwahati and have now swapped India for the Sri Lankan capital for their next two matches.
They take on the co-hosts on their home pitch on Saturday and expect an even more dramatic turn of events than they have already seen as they prepare to play on a pitch used for the third match in just ten days.
The match will take place on pitch five at Premadasa Stadium, which has already hosted matches on October 2 and 5, meaning Beaumont and her fellow batters will have to work hard for their runs against a team full of slow bowlers.
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Australia’s Beth Mooney dug deep for a match-winning century at the same ground on Wednesday after the rest of the top order collapsed against Pakistan.
“We looked at the other games and we got as much information as we could. We know the other game was running quite a bit here,” Beaumont said.
“We’ve talked a lot about how we want to approach our batting to counter these conditions.
“It doesn’t look like we are on a new wicket, so as a batsman I don’t expect the ball to slide nicely.
“We’ll probably find out it’s not going to look good. You can’t go for those big shots too early.”
“Maybe we need to tone it down a bit and someone has to earn the right to make it big.”
(Mike Egerton/PA)
Spinners
However, it won’t just be a matter of soaking up the Sri Lankan pressure, with England bringing their own arsenal of spinners to the party.
World number one Sophie Ecclestone and fellow left-armer Linsey Smith both have five wickets so far, while Charlie Dean and Alice Capsey add another six wickets.
“England have produced some really good spinners over the years, but the four or five we have now seem to be doing very well,” Beaumont said.
“The fact that someone like Sarah Glenn is not in the XI at the moment and is one of the most wicket-taking leg-spinners in the world is a sign of the depth we have.
“Ours are right up there… I don’t necessarily like to compare, but I can tell you that it’s not that nice to face them in the nets.
“It’s a great challenge and it prepares you well for any spinner you encounter at the World Cup.”
Mistakes
England’s nervy win over Bangladesh came amid a slew of questionable refereeing decisions, with Heather Knight seeing three on-field dismissals overturned by the TV official.
At least one of these came as a surprise to Knight himself, but Beaumont offered a word of support to those responsible for making the big decisions.
“Referees are people like all of us,” she said. “If I miss a cover drive and fall behind, I’ve made a mistake… everyone makes mistakes.
“We clearly make a mistake when the ball hits our pads or comes near the outside edge.
“So it’s great that we have DRS available and that’s exactly what it’s for.”
READ MORE: Heather Knight is pleased with some luck in England’s World Cup win over Bangladesh
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