ICC World Cup 2019 | We know what it takes to beat Australia, states Ben Stokes
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After suffering a 64-run loss in the group stages against arch rivals Australia, Ben Stokes has now stated that his team knows what it takes to beat the mighty Aussies. Stokes also acknowledged the threat posed by the Aussies, while also claiming that England know their strengths and weaknesses.
England were on the brink of potential elimination from the group stages after their 64-run defeat to Australia at Lord's, but two back-to-back victories against India and New Zealand has now set up a rematch for the Three Lions against their arch rivals at Edgbaston on Thursday.Â
Despite seeing batsmen on the other end fold like a pack of cards, Ben Stokes posted a valiant 89 against the Aussies, only to be undone by a corker of a yorker from Mitchell Starc. In his column for The Mirror, Stokes talks about how grand an occasion the England-Australia clash is, and how players look forward to playing such a clash against a team that all the players know well. Â
"There's no getting away from it, Thursdayâs World Cup semi-final against Australia is a massive game and one we cannot wait to get stuck into. Everything about it screams drama, hype, history, rivalry and quality," Stokes wrote in his column for the Mirror.Â
"These are the games you hope to be playing in when the tournament begins so to get here is brilliant. But for us it has to be business as usual, and for that reason it is no bad thing that we are playing against a team we know so well," he added.Â
Stokes also spoke about how a failure to win would be a major disappointment, casting his mind back to England's 2017 Champions Trophy semi-final loss against Pakistan, while insisting that England were focused on getting the win.
"Getting to a semi-final is a great thing to say, but when you get that far and you know how much further the team is capable of going, then if we werenât to win it would be a crushing disappointment â as it was in the Champions Trophy [hosts England lost to eventual winners Pakistan at this stage last summer]. We are fully focused on getting that victory," the English all-rounder said.Â
Having played each other often over the course of the last 18 months, Stokes also said that the English team knew what Australia's strengths and weaknesseses were, and what it will take to beat them. "We know what their strengths and weaknesses are, we know what their best players can do. But, most importantly, we know what it takes to beat them," he said.Â
The aggressive approach taken by the English batsmen has been a hot topic of discussion, and the English team came under fire for going against the very same approach in their game against Sri Lanka, which eventually cost them the match. However, Stokes asserted that England will stick to their approach, while stating that he banks on both Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan to rise up to the ocassion.Â
"Now we are here, it is about us giving the best account of ourselves we can and playing the sort of cricket that got us here. This is not the time to take a step backwards," Stokes said.Â
"Now is the time to double down on the approach that has served us so well, not shy away from it because it's a semi-final. And Iâm expecting to see the likes of Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler come to the fore over the next week, too." the English all-rounder concluded.
England will take on Australia in the second semi-final of the Word Cup at Edgbaston on Thursday.
