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Lindsay Smith believes England need to be at their best to beat South Africa in the second leg of the Women’s T20 World Cup on Monday.
Slow left-arm bowler Smith was in remarkable form as England opened the match with a 21-run win over Bangladesh on Saturday, taking two wickets for 11 runs.
Monday’s encounter will bring back painful memories for England of their 2023 T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to hosts South Africa by six wickets.
Smith said: “Obviously a lot has been said about that game, and I think the girls learned a lot from it.
“We’re just looking forward to playing against them again in the World Cup. Obviously they had a really strong win the other day, so we’ll do our best again to play against them and hopefully win again. .”
South Africa defeated West Indies by 10 wickets in the opening match in Dubai, and Monday’s match will be played in Sharjah, where England will face Bangladesh on a slow pitch.
“I think obviously the way Bangladesh were bowling they slowed down their pace a lot and they showed that they were very difficult to find boundaries,” Smith said.
“I knew it was obviously quite slow and low so I just tried to keep the stumps moving and put some pressure on that way.”
Sussex and Northern Superchargers bowler Smith is relishing the chance to revive his international career after playing for England in the West Indies at the T20 World Cup in 2018.
She added: “That was obviously six years ago, which is a long time ago now that I think about it. I took some time away from the England set-up and it made me grow and do a lot of self-reflection and figure out how I want to be. , I think it helped me think about how I wanted to play the game.
“It was tough but I always wanted to do a bit of justice to myself by wearing an England shirt.
“Six years ago I didn’t feel like I played very well, so I was happy to get that chance again at the World Cup.”
