“I would not like to give excuses,” says coach Jon Lewis on England’s loss

West Indies sent England packing as they knocked them out of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on Tuesday in Dubai. The 2016 winners beat the inaugural champions by six wickets and 12 balls to spare, chasing a competitive target of 142. Though England had won their first three matches in the league match, it was a virtual quarterfinal for them to make it to the knockouts, as their net run rate was not too healthy. After a disappointing loss which ended England’s T20 World Cup campaign, Jon Lewis, the head coach, addressed the media.

Put in to bat first by West Indies, England posted 7/141 in 20 overs. “We had a pretty good total on board. [However, we] didn’t execute well with the ball. Also, we dropped catches. I think we dropped six catches. We could not create enough pressure to hold them back. West Indies batted well in the powerplay,” said Lewis.

Reflecting on the dropped catches, he stated, “This was the first time we stepped into the stadium. But I would not like to give excuses. [Any other day] we would have caught them nine out of 10 times.”

This loss will be nothing less than a bitter pill to swallow for England. “We will take a bit of time [to digest this loss]. Players will be reflective. They are a strong group. They work well together. They support each other. [From here] we will try to move forward,” Lewis expressed.

He added, “I am pretty gutted to be honest. We have been working very hard to this moment. You want the players to play best cricket. We didn’t get it right today. Execution of our skill was not proper. We were [just] reacting. Also, our bowling attack is relatively young. After taking those punches, it was difficult to bounce back.”

Besides, England’s captain Heather Knight could not take the field in the second innings due to a tight calf. Watching from the sidelines would not have been easy for Knight. Lewis shared, “It was not helpful to us that our captain was off the field. Nat had to take charge. Though she did a good job, I think Heather would have been able to help the bowlers better. It was frustrating for her to sit out.”

England were one of the favorites to make it to the semi-finals, especially on the back of the home summer they had, but after a heartbreaking defeat against West Indies, it was nothing but curtains for them.