England all-rounder Ben Stokes has confessed that their dressing room was both euphoric and relieved after he guided them to a 4-wicket victory against Sri Lanka at the SCG in a must-win match to qualify for ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals.
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Much like players of any other team, English cricketers must have been euphoric at the prospect of qualifying for their fourth white-ball World Cup semi-final in a row. Having said that, sealing a 142-run target with only four wickets and a couple of balls to spare was far away from ideal execution of their plans.
Stokes, however, revealed that his sole goal was to “be there till the end” and win the match irrespective of the margin of victory as the same would’ve guaranteed them a semi-final berth.
Ben Stokes wary of Adelaide Oval Cricket Ground boundary length
England, who finished Group 2 points table at the second position, will now lock horns against India at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday in their quest to reach the final. Stokes, who labeled India as a “very good team”, didn’t want to ponder much about their strengths. With England arguably being the best team on paper in this tournament, Stokes laid emphasis on playing according to their capability.
“We come here in Adelaide where the dimensions of the ground are completely different to what we’ve been used to playing in our group stages. We found that a little bit with the SCG [Sydney Cricket Ground] with a very small square boundary. Same thing again here but we also know that we get to bat on the same wicket,” Stokes told Sky Sports Cricket in a video posted on their Twitter handle.
“As a team, we’d like to focus more on ourselves than the opposition because we know that if we we play anywhere near to the capability of the talent we’ve got in the dressing room, we’re a very hard team to beat.”
Not just in their last match but it is true that England are yet to play according to their real potential in this World Cup. A team known to redefine this format, England are really expected to do well in a world event such as this.
Furthermore, it is noteworthy that Stokes was inch-perfect in his observation of the Adelaide Oval’s shorter square boundaries. England, who had played their last Super 12 match in Sydney, have also played in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane in this World Cup.
