Saturday night’s seven-wicket win against Bangladesh, with 16 balls to spare, was a far from polished display. Once more the bowlers dished up too many wides — 11 just a few days after conceding eight against the Scots.
“A couple of the bowlers were trying things, there were a lot of slower balls, and they weren’t bowling wicket to wicket and that gave them a release. We could have stuck to the basics better,” said Brits.
Doing so would have meant chasing less than the 107 they had to knock off — which created more challenges with the net run rate.
The pace off the pitch was extremely slow, and the way Bangladesh’s spinners operated exacerbated those conditions. “It wasn’t easy for batting,” said Brits, who top-scored with 42 off 41 balls.
“We should have cashed in during the power play while the ball was still nice and new. They do bowl slower than other teams, so the ball wasn’t bouncing and coming through.”
It left her frustrated. “I don’t want my strike rate to be 100 or less, I want to get to 140, because when we make 45 to 60 in the power play, that sets up the entire game.
“It’s not always easy for batters on a surface like this to hit fours and sixes … you saw that with Chloe and Kappy, who needed to hit (into) pockets (of space) and had to run hard. That’s difficult. I’m happy I’m making runs and contributing for the team, but I don’t think I’ll be truly happy until I get that strike rate up,” said Brits.