England spinner Sophie Ecclestone believes an opening defeat to South Africa at the T20 World Cup has acted as the perfect springboard.
England’s women qualified for the semi-finals on Sunday after beating West Indies comfortably, their third straight victory since losing their opener.
Ecclestone again starred with the ball, with figures of three for seven, taking her wicket haul for the tournament to eight at an average of just 6.12 runs apiece.
And she said: “I think it [the South Africa loss] was a bit of a wake-up call for us all to be like, ‘Right, we’re in a World Cup now, we need to up our game’.
"I’m really glad with how the girls have fought back. Everyone’s really happy in the camp now, getting through to the semi-finals.
"All the spinners, the bowlers are in great form, the batters are getting runs, too, so it’s quite nice.”
Nat Sciver again top scored for England with 57 in a 46-run victory and former England captain Charlotte Edwards said the team needed Sciver to continue to shine to have aspirations for overall glory.
Edwards said: “She’s playing the best I’ve ever seen — she’s just so commanding at the wicket. She keeps putting in performance after performance.
“I guess she’ll need two more big performances for us to win the World Cup. She’s been without doubt our player of the tournament.”
Hosts Australia clinched their spot in the semi-finals with a four-run win over New Zealand. India and South Africa complete the line-up.
