England overcame a brief scare in their second T20 World Cup match yesterday against Ireland to keep their spot at the top of the group, but their real concern will be over the fitness of Nat Sciver-Brunt, after she retired hurt in the closing stages of the match.
Having stabilised England’s chase in a strong partnership with Heather Knight, Sciver-Brunt walked off the field with nine runs needed to win after experiencing tightness in her left calf – the same calf which kept her out of England’s two warm-up series before the tournament. She will undergo scans today to determine the extent of the injury.
Sciver-Brunt has been playing only as a batter in the T20 World Cup so far, having been unable to recover from the calf injury enough to bowl by the start of the tournament. It’s a testament both to her status as one of the best batters in the world and England’s reliance on her for regular runs that even while she is unable to play as an allrounder, she is still their most valuable player.
How do England replace Nat Siver-Brunt in case of injury?
In both of their first two World Cup matches, Sciver-Brunt played a vital role in England’s wins, hitting an unbeaten 46 off 22 balls in the tournament opener at Edgbaston and retiring two runs short of a half-century last night. While her role as captain is less problematic to replace should she require further time on the sidelines, with Charlie Dean having stepped in ably to replace her as leader against India and New Zealand, replacing her runs would be more of a worry.
England droppedSophia Dunkley at the start of the tournament when Sciver-Brunt came back into the side, and she would likely return if she’s sidelined again. Dunkley has only opened the batting in T20Is since Charlotte Edwards took over as head coach. Amy Jones was promoted to open at the start of the tournament and hit a half-century against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston. If Dunkley were to come back in, it would likely prompt a re-shuffle, with Dunkley back in at the top and one of Jones or Alice Capsey moved into the No.3 spot, with the other batting at No.4.
Nevertheless, Dunkley’s lack of a substantive score in the series before the World Cup was what saw her miss out at the start of the tournament, and her lack of both runs and match practice makes the potential hole Sciver-Brunt could leave even bigger. Despite getting England off to fast starts, Dunkley’s highest score from six T20Is this summer is 26. However, Dunkley impressed in their home series against India last year and hit a blistering century in their intra-squad series in South Africa earlier this year.
Should Sciver-Brunt’s injury rule her out of the tournament entirely, England will likely need to call up batting cover from the domestic circuit. Leading the contenders in that regard is Maia Bouchier. Bouchier scored 87 off 55 balls and then 74* off 53 in consecutive T20 Blast games last week, as well as a 50-over half-century against Somerset.
Equally, England could also turn to Jodie Grewcock as an allrounder, who made her ODI debut against New Zealand last month and is currently in the top 10 T20 Blast run-scorers. Another option would be to recall Tammy Beaumont, who was dropped from England’s 50-over and T20I squads before the tournament. Beaumont would add the experience England would be lacking without Sciver-Brunt, having captained the side in her absence last year.
England’s next match is against Scotland on Saturday, which gives them some breathing space to both assess Sciver-Brunt’s injury and for Sciver-Brunt herself to recover. Nevertheless, until the extent of her injury can be ascertained, it will be a cloud hanging over a so-far successful start to the tournament for the hosts.
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