Cricket World Cup 2019: Chris Woakes admits England had to overcome nerves in Australia win
Despite England’s superb win, Woakes revealed the team grappled with anxiety ahead of the match
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Your support makes all the difference.Chris Woakes has admitted England's usual confidence was replaced by nerves coming into their semi-final match against Australia, despite their impressive performance as they advanced to the final.
England were sent into the field first and quickly ripped through Australia’s top order on their way to a dominant eight-wicket win at Edgbaston.
Woakes was the pick of the bowlers after getting David Warner and Peter Handscomb out early on as Jofra Archer chipped in to dismiss Aaron Finch.
Australia slumped to 14/3 inside half an hour and England made light work of the 224 target the tournament holders set.
Despite England’s superb win, Woakes revealed there were some anxious bodies ahead of the titanic match.
"There were some nerves around this morning but that's natural going into a semi-final” he revealed on the pitch as the fireworks lit up the grey sky behind him. “The way we produced the goods just showed how good we are and where we are at as a team.
"I'm pretty speechless. It was an incredible performance from the whole team. It started with the bowling performance and then the way they knocked that off was outstanding.
Woakes walked away with the man of the match award, but said it could have been a different story had he not quickly adjusted after being hit for four off the very first ball of the game.
"I just got my length wrong for the first ball - there were a bit of nerves and a world-class player in David Warner is going to put that away,” he said. “I got my length right after that and felt good.”
Woakes added that England are relieved to make the final given their pre-tournament billing.
"It hasn't sunk in that we're in a World Cup final and hopefully we can go all the way,” he said.
"We were tipped as favourites so it was important to get to the semi-final in the first place and then to win this in this fashion against this Australia side on the best ground in the world is amazing."
Australia captain Aaron Finch added that Woakes is a “world class bowler” and said Australia paid the price for their aggressive approach to defending 224.
"We had to have a lot things go right for us. We had to take our chances and bowl them out,” he said. “We tried to take wickets but when you are aggressive with the ball and they are aggressive with the bat things can happen very quickly."
He added that his Surrey teammate Jason Roy, who scored 85, will make a strong candidate to open the batting for England in the upcoming Ashes series.
"He's got some really good runs in country cricket," he said. "If he gets going on his day he can be brutal, he's a very dangerous threat, no doubt."
Before thinking about The Ashes, Eoin Morgan’s side will play New Zealand at Lord’s on Sunday, England’s first appearance in a final since 1992.
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