Guwahati, Oct 3 (IANS) England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt has backed the side’s spin bowling attack to set the tone for a winning start in their 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup opener against South Africa, to be played at the ACA Stadium.

“I thought the wicket looked quite good (in the tournament opener). It looked like in the Powerplay; it was fairly easy to score. Then we got a little bit more difficult through the middle, especially when the spinners came on.

“So typically, I suppose that’s a blueprint that we work with, especially when we’re bowling, making sure the spinners in the middle are doing a really good job for us and making it really hard for people to get away.

“I think that has been a really good strength of ours for a number of years. We’ve got a brilliant spin attack. I suppose we’ve got a brilliant set of players who have lots of different skills to be able to do a job in whatever role they’re given. It’s been difficult to select our XI. We’re really excited,” Nat was quoted as saying by ICC on Friday.

While Nat has been returning to full fitness, she has confirmed about chipping in with the ball in the eight-team competition. “Me being able to play a part as an all-rounder has a bit of a change to the balance of the side that we can select. So, we’d like to select seven batters to go into this tournament,” she added.

The game against South Africa will also be the first time of former captain Heather Knight playing under Nat’s leadership and the latter hinted at leaning on her insights throughout the tournament. “I think it would be stupid of me not to listen to her. She’s a hugely valuable person in our side, whether it’s with the bat or just that tactical thinking.

“She’s got a brilliant brain for cricket. So, yeah, I’m encouraging her to be as vocal as she wants to be, really. And, yeah, any little bits that we can help the team move forward and hopefully win a game or two, we’ll be doing that,” she said.

Nat signed off by saying the pre-World Cup camp in Abu Dhabi was valuable for England to adjust to the sub-continental conditions. “(The camp) was really valuable. We got some great time out in the middle in really hot, humid conditions where in England it’s not like that. So, I think preparing physically in that way was really good.”

“I think just honing in on all of the skills that you would need for different conditions and then as a side, making sure that we’re communicating really well so that everyone can adapt to that. I think that’s going to be a massive part of our tournament, making sure that we are adapting as quickly as we can to what’s put out in front of us.”

–IANS

nr/bc