'A confident group' - England race into semis bursting with belief

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Figure caption,

England make breakthrough with three wickets in four balls

ByMatthew HenryBBC Sport Journalist at The Oval

Published1 hour ago

England have "never been more confident" going into a World Cup semi-final, says coach Charlotte Edwards.

Edwards' side made it five wins from five at the T20 World Cup by beating New Zealand on Saturday, giving them real momentum going into next week's knockout stage.

They have reached five of the past six World Cup semi-finals across formats but have not won a title since their famous 50-over win at Lord's in 2017.

"It is a confident group," Edwards told BBC Test Match Special.

"They are feeling we can win from anywhere, but equally different people are always putting their hands up within the group and putting in those match-winning performances, which we have always asked for.

"We are quietly confident and looking forward to a big next week."

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Although England were always expected to progress from Group Two, the manner of their performances has still been impressive.

They racked up 200 or more against Sri Lanka and Scotland, scored an equally impressive 186-7 on a tricky pitch against West Indies at Lord's, and romped home with 2.4 overs to spare in a chase of 164 against the White Ferns as Danni Wyatt-Hodge made an unbeaten 89.

"The goal was to win the group," Edwards said.

"To go through unbeaten is really pleasing. Our batting has been particularly powerful and a real positive for us.

"I thought we bowled really well tonight on a good pitch. You saw how good that pitch was.

"We seem to be getting better with each game which is really good going into the business end of the tournament."

England will not find out their semi-final opponents until Group One concludes on Sunday, but India or South Africa currently appear the most likely.

They also do not know whether they will play on Tuesday at 14:30 BST or Thursday at 18:30 BST.

Tuesday's match has been arranged to suit Indian TV and India will play in that match should they qualify.

It means England will play on Thursday if anyone but India finishes second in Group One, but be switched to Tuesday if India take second spot.

"We obviously know now with the teams we are likely to play in the semi-finals, one are world champions of the ODIs [India] and one have played in every World Cup final for the last three years [South Africa] so it is not going to be easy," Edwards said.

"But we are going in with the most confidence we have ever done into a semi-final and with a lot of belief."