We've got to win and then obviously see how we go on net run rate: Harry Brook

After beating West Indies comprehensively in the first Super 8 encounter in St Lucia, defending champions England thought of having cruise control in the group by beating South Africa. But a disciplined South African attack ensured England didn’t walk away with the win, despite a late surge from Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone. 

Now, England will have to beat the United States of America (USA) and expect to stay ahead of the West Indies in order to make it to the semifinals of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. Harry Brook reflected on the loss to the Saffers and launched a war cry for his teammates to get the better of co-hosts USA.

“We've got to win and then obviously see how we go on net run rate. But the main thing is to definitely get that win,” Brook said in the pre-match press conference in Barbados.

“And we've played quite a lot in Barbados over the last couple of months, six months or so. So, we know the conditions, we know the wind and we know the pitch as well so hopefully, we can go out there and give them a good battering.”

Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj had a complete wood over England in the powerplay and middle overs, not letting them score any comfortable runs. When Brook had to go big, the asking rate was already too high - hence, South Africa eventually managed a seven-wicket win.

“I think when the score is double the amount of balls, I think it's about time you need to try and put the foot down at that point. We tried to push the accelerator, but we did it well for a while, but couldn't see the game home, unfortunately.

“When Livi (Livingstone) took Baartman down, I definitely thought we were the favourites there. Obviously, it only takes one wicket from there to change things. There's a new batter coming in on them pitches with a softball into that breeze. It's not easy, but yes, we should have probably won that from that position,” the tall batter added.

Brook is also not losing hope that England can’t win the tournament once again. 

“Obviously, it's awesome to be involved in a World Cup. It's another dream come true, but we're defending champs and hopefully, we can go out there and win it again, but we just got to keep on nailing it and obviously, we've got another must-win few games now. So, yeah, we did that in the last World Cup, we did it in the last group stage. So, who's to say we can't do it again?” Brook added.

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