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India cruise to six-wicket victory to clinch series
England’s head coach, Charlotte Edwards, has stated that the team is in a transitional phase and there is no cause for alarm following their T20 series defeat against India.
Following a disappointing winter, marked by an early exit from the T20 World Cup and a heavy Ashes loss, England, under the new leadership of Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, commenced their new chapter with dominant white-ball series victories over the West Indies.
However, they have largely been outmatched in the subsequent T20s against India. The tourists secured a convincing six-wicket win at Old Trafford, establishing an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, which will be followed by three one-day internationals.
“As long as we are looking to get better, I am not going to panic,” Edwards told Sky Sports.
“We are going to be calm. We are a team on a journey. We are a team in transition. It’s not going to happen overnight.
“We are not going to suddenly get this team performing how we want them to. But hopefully we have got a bit of time, certainly in T20 cricket.
“Hopefully you will see an improved team in ODI cricket, that’s our immediate goal come October.”
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The autumn will see England travel to India and Sri Lanka for the 50-over World Cup, increasing the scrutiny on the one-dayers that follow Saturday’s fifth T20.
“What this [T20] series has enabled us to see is the team under pressure,” said Edwards.
“The last game at The Oval was a great example of that. We dropped a couple of catches but we took a brilliant one that was probably game-changing by Charlie Dean.
“We have got to keep working on that area. India have improved massively because they have played in the WPL (Women’s Premier League), where they are playing in front of 30,000 people regularly. I can see the influence of that on this Indian team.
“We have got to try and create that through The Hundred and competitions across the world and hopefully in the series we get to play.”
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England’s fielding was identified as an area needing improvement following Edwards’ appointment in the wake of the 16-0 Ashes defeat in Australia over the winter.
The former captain described that aspect of her side’s performances as “really disappointing” after a number of dropped catches throughout the India series.
“I know the results haven’t gone our way but I keep saying to the players that we’re on a journey, and the T20 journey is for [the T20 World Cup] next summer,” Edwards told BBC Test Match Special.
“We are learning lots about this current group, but they’ve got to learn quickly, about how to build an innings in the middle overs and that sort of thing.
“In terms of our bowling, it is exciting. [Lauren] Bell, [Lauren] Filer, [Issy] Wong, [Sophie] Ecclestone’s shown her class.
“We want the team to be playing under more pressure, we have seen that now, and I’m learning a lot from that.”
While the West Indies series provided a timely confidence boost after the Ashes, India have delivered a reality check as England aim to become the world’s leading side.
“This is one of the best teams in the world and where we want to aspire to get to,” Edwards said of India.
“At times at The Oval it was amazing how we fought back but we haven’t been able to do it consistently enough where India have and that is why they’re 3-1 up.
“I’m learning every single day, we’re talking and reviewing a lot. I think this is just going to take a bit longer than we’d have liked.
“We have come up against a very good team but what I can tell you is that everything is being done behind the scenes for us to improve, for us to get there, and we’ve got to be realistic.”
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