Nat Sciver-Brunt believes it is going to be a hard-fought World Cup.

“And we are starting with South Africa, which has some brilliant players,” the England captain said ahead of Friday’s match. “Yes, winning all our warm-up matches is something, but I don’t suppose we could take any of the teams lightly. We could take some confidence from those games, but the nerves will be there.”

She added the women’s game had reached a point from where a lot of sides were really competitive and could win games in the tournament.

“We have seen in the first two games that the teams which could withstand the pressure the longest will come out on top,” she said. “Both Australia and India had a wobble in their batting but were able to get out of it.”

Sciver-Brunt feels her bowling attack is ready for the Barsapara Cricket Stadium. “We have a brilliant spin attack,” she said. “We ensure our spinners in the middle are difficult to get away.”

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Her South African counterpart Laura Wolvaardt said her team enjoyed playing against England at the World Cup.

“We will be really keen to get a good start against it tomorrow,” the captain said. “We have a strong group of players and we have prepared well.”

She said the South African men’s team winning the World Test Championship was awesome. “It was amazing to see how the country supported it,” she said. “Hopefully we could do something similar in this tournament to get the country back behind us.”

Wovaardt said the World Cup being held in India was big for the women’s game. “The game has grown incredibly in India in the last couple of years,” she said.

“The pinnacle of all that is having the World Cup in India, where the game has absolutely blown up in the last couple of years.”

Published on Oct 02, 2025