Taunton, June 3 (IANS) England head coach Charlotte Edwards said she is “very confident” that skipper Nat Sciver‑Brunt will be available for the Women’s T20 World Cup starting on June 12, though the seam bowling all-rounder may feature only as a batter.

Nat is yet to feature for England in their ongoing home summer, missing the ODI and T20I series against New Zealand as well as the recent T20I series win over India after sustaining a calf injury while turning out for The Blaze in the One‑Day Cup in April.

But Nat is now expected to return as a specialist batter at number three when England begin their Women’s T20 World Cup warm-up matches against Australia and India on June 8 and 10 respectively, before starting their main campaign against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on June 12.

“That makes tonight even more exciting, doesn’t it, that we’ve got Nat Sciver‑Brunt adding to this lineup. I am very confident. She’s training this week and Saturday and doing her running and she’ll be playing hopefully in the first warm‑up game next week.

“All good with her. I’m not sure she’s going to be bowling so it’ll be in a batting role for us, hence why we’ve been managing some workloads throughout this series. Freya Kemp didn’t bowl tonight, so it’s really positive going into next week,” said Charlotte at the conclusion of the series.

Despite Nat’s absence, England have won T20I series against New Zealand and India, both 2‑1, with batters stepping up in unfamiliar roles and creating a good selection headache for the team management. Alice Capsey struck a match‑winning 82 off 43 balls in the decider in Taunton, while sharing a 137‑run stand with Heather Knight, who smashed 70 not out.

“They’re good headaches to have. We’re in a really good position in terms of people (being) in form so I’m going to be taking some time away – the players are going home for a few days – and then we’ll reset again on Saturday in Cardiff. I’m a big believer of your top six, they should be able to bat anywhere in the order, and the players are really showing that. We want versatility and flexibility within the order,” added Charlotte.

Charlotte signed off by acknowledging that competition for batting spots is at an intense point. “That’s something when I came into this role I wanted to create without it being a burden and I don’t think it’s a burden seeing the players play like they are.

“They know if they want to stay in the team they’ve got to put in big, match-winning performances and Heather and Alice did that superbly. You talk about pressure and playing under pressure, these girls are playing under pressure even for their places now, which is great in many ways because you get performances like that, which is really satisfying.”

–IANS

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