Three hits, three misses

It was nice to finish the Twenty20 series [against South Africa] with a clean sweep. The goal was to continue the momentum we have had from the one-day games, and Twenty20 being the shorter format meant we had to be ultra disciplined to achieve that. I think for us as a squad it was important preparation for the World Twenty20 next year, as we haven’t played an excessive amount therefore everything we can fit in now will be important and we, like everyone else, will have to learn fast.

For me personally the Twenty20s ended up as a bit of a disaster. I have never had three ducks in a row in my life! Well I’ll describe it for you. First game two balls left, the aim was to swing from my boots which I did … unfortunately missing the ball. The second duck, well a bit of a mix-up with the captain with a few ‘yes’ and ‘no’ calls, and next I was walking back to the pavilion with dust in my mouth from my extravagant dive! The final duck, when I got the opportunity to open, was bad shot-selection, trying to pull a ball that most probably wasn’t quite there and I ended up lbw. Personally I am gutted as I had a good opportunity to score some runs but missed out.

I have been asked how you keep your chin up in situations like this. Well I think the first two I have to accept as the nature of Twenty20 cricket. The lbw is something I have to work on in the nets. But I still feel in top form, striking the ball well and have faith in my ability, so back to business as usual.

Looking ahead to India starting on Saturday will be a different challenge altogether. I last saw and played against India last year in the Women's Quadrangular Series in Chennai. They were definitely a strong unit and have the likes of fast bowler Jhulan Goswami. (Most probably my favourite female bowler, after all our girls of course.) She has an impressive record being one of the few bowlers to have over 100 ODI wickets, and although I personally haven’t faced her, bounce and movement off the seam is where she is dangerous.

I am really looking forward to the challenge and I know the girls are also. South Africa were good preparation for the India series and it was a chance to see them before the ICC Women’s World Cup. We also got to rotate the squad so everyone is feeling in form. A few days off between the two series and I am itching to get going again. We will prepare this week, and let’s hope we can put in a solid performance before they settle.