I am happy to bat wherever: English batter Danni Wyatt
Jul 11, 2022
London [UK], July 11 : England batter Danni Wyatt expects to return to the middle order after a splendid century at the top in the 2022 World Cup semifinals.
As England prepares for the ODI series against South Africa, starting on Monday. Wyatt is expected to be moved back down to the middle order and the all-rounder Emma Lamb looks tp resume the old partnership with Tammy Beaumont.
"I am happy to bat wherever. I have been up and down the order, but that is fine. I am just happy to be in the starting eleven. A lot of coaches have said in the past that I am flexible in the order in ODI cricket, and I can perform whatever role they say, which is a credit to myself," ESPNCricinfo quoted Wyatt as saying.
"It is just about being really clear in my role, chatting to the captain or coach about what my role is going to be leading into the series and just prepare really well - whether it be with a new ball or an old ball - about my plan and how I am going to go about it," the 31-year-old added.
Wyatt scored 129 runs in 125 balls in the match against South Africa in the World Cup semi-finals. It was also one of her best knocks as it is her highest individual score in international cricket.
She later dropped the ball in the World Cup finals when she was much needed, scoring only 4 runs out of 5 balls in a disappointing performance against Australia. The Kangaroos went undefeated in the campaign and won the match by a comfortable margin of 71 runs.
Even after the excellent performance in the semifinals of the World Cup, Wyatt acknowledges that the best of her performance comes out later in the game with only a limited number of overs left. She performed well in both the top order and middle order with an average of 40 runs when playing in the middle order and also scoring 2 of the fastest centuries for England while playing as an opener.
"My ideal situation is to go in with 15 or 10 overs to go," she said.
"Just go out there and do what I do in the T20 format: just be brave, show intent, run well, which is what happens when I'm playing my best cricket. Just back myself and try to get the team to the highest score possible," added the right-handed batter.
Despite the discussion about her position in the squad, she was happy with how things are and enjoying her time as an England player. Wyatt finds it fascinating how the new players have been fitting in the team with rest of the squad.
England will face South Africa in their upcoming three-match ODI series. The opposing team will be plotting revenge after their disheartening loss against England in the last World Cup denying them entry to their maiden tournament final.
"We just had a team meeting about it, saying how much we want to get that win on the board. Obviously in the semi-final, we had a lot of opportunities and just did not take it. I feel like that game could have gone a whole other way, and our World Cup journey could have been a bit different," ESPNCricinfo quoted Sune Luus, South Africa Captain as saying.
"The mindset that we are going with tomorrow is just about taking every opportunity we have, make sure we get on top, and don't give them that satisfaction again." she added.