“Wickets Have Been Kind To Bowlers”: England Pacer Topley Expects Batters To Turn It Around In Super 8
England pacer Reece Topley cautions that batters might unleash their big-hitting prowess in the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup, urging bowlers to brace themselves for a potential run-fest after dominating the group matches, where only three 200-plus totals were scored
Gros Islet [Saint Lucia]: England pacer Reece Topley feels that batters could turn things around in the Super 8 and bowlers should be ready to take their “medicine” after they dominated the entire group stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
In the group stage, there were only three occasions when a team managed to reach or cross the 200-run mark.
In the last three days, two of those have come in Beausejour.
While addressing the recent shift in trend, Topley said the pitches have been kind to the bowlers.
“It’s nice that there’s obviously new conditions to try and adapt to. But I think it’s going to make for a pretty good cricket wicket regardless, I think the wickets have been kind to bowlers so far. So it might be time to take a bit of medicine, it might be in the business of problem-solving now, and things are a bit more complicated for us as bowlers, but the mission statement is pretty much the same,” Topley said in the pre-match press conference.
“I don’t know about that, but hopefully, come Saturday morning, we’ve had two good games, and then everyone will be walking around smiling. So yeah, I think the batsmen might be licking their lips. Hopefully, they deliver the goods,” he added.
During the build-up to the World Cup, the Caribbean side hosted England for a five-match T20I series at the end of last year. The hosts prevailed with a 3-2 win, but this time, the Three Lions will be looking to change the outcome.
Topley believes that familiarity with conditions will help them be aware of what to expect from the game.
“Yeah, I think maybe it’s an advantage that we’ve toured here quite a lot in the recent history. So, it’s nothing new to us. Everyone knows what to expect once we’re out here, knows what you can do to keep your head down and stay fresh for the games. I think there’s going to be a lot of time to kill tomorrow. Obviously, it was such a late game that we’ve not had so far. So, I think we’ll have to lean on a bit of that experience. But obviously, representing England at a World Cup, no matter where it is, is always a highlight of your career,” Topley stated.
England will play West Indies in the Super 8 on Wednesday (local time) at Beausejour Stadium in Saint Lucia.
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