England all-rounder Jenny Gunn believes her side are now able to play with freedom ahead of their penultimate group game in the ICC Women’s World Cup, against New Zealand in Derby on Wednesday.
A win for the hosts over New Zealand will guarantee them a place in the Semi-Finals of the competition with one game remaining. Tickets are still available for the important clash, which gets underway in Derby on Wednesday 12 July, 10.30am start.
Gunn claimed two wickets in England’s last game against Australia as well as making a vital 39 runs to help her side claim a first Women’s World Cup win over Australia since 1993 and she is relishing the opportunity to claim her sides semi-final place.
She said: “Anyone can win from here, it’s brilliant to get that victory over Australia to head into the New Zealand match.
“We’re a family, we do get on and once we take the field it’s nice to be with everyone and be there for the fight, it’s really good fun.
“We have been playing with a bit of freedom, we’re taking each game as it comes and we enjoy playing for our country.”
A win for New Zealand in this fixture is crucial to their chances of qualifying for the Knockout stages of the competition, with South Africa currently sitting level on points with them, just below them on run rate.
The White Fearns captain Suzie Bates is looking forward to facing England, hoping that her side have gained confidence from their eight-wicket victory over Pakistan in their last game.
Bates said: “I can’t wait for England, we haven’t played them a lot – they are a really talented side and have had some really good scores in this tournament. But we match up pretty well and it should be a really good game.
“It’s hard to take too much from previous matches in this tournament, but we have confidence as a group and players getting in form, which will only put us in a good place.
“The beauty of this team is having not just good cricket players but great people, we’re all here for the same reasons and we just want to win the World Cup.”
Tickets are available for all games in Derby, with prices starting from just £10 for adults. Tickets can be purchased online via icc-cricket.com/tickets.
For more information about ICC Women’s World Cup, please call 01332 388 101 or email [email protected].
