Chris Woakes was just “speechless” when the paceman was asked about England’s blockbuster show against Australia in the World Cup 2019 semi-finals on Thursday, 11th July.
At Edgbaston, the hosts came up with a clinical display against the five-time World Cup champions to massively knock Australia out from the showpiece event with 8-wicket defeat to set a date with New Zealand for the summit clash on 14th July at Lord’s for the first time since 1992.
Woakes, who adjudged Man of the Match, for his stunning figures of 3/20 in a lethal eight-over spell has hailed the incredible efforts of England in a thrilling semi-final against the defending champions.
After the match at Edgbaston, Woakes told Sky Sports, “I’m pretty speechless. It was an incredible performance from the whole team, started well with the bowling and then the batting was outstanding. The way we have produced the goods shows how good we are and we’re really pleased.”
The pacer continued, “I don’t think it was a bad wicket, we just found the right length and they had to rebuild and we kept the pressure. We got off to a flyer and when chasing a relatively small total, that’s the difference.”
Meanwhile, Woakes admitted that the Lions were nervous ahead of the crucial semi-final, “There were some nerves around this morning, a few anxious people in the dressing room but that’s natural.”
Now, England is just one step away from clinching the maiden World Cup title at home and Woakes said his team had tried their best to avoid the historic nature of their campaign.
He signed off by saying, “We have tried not to think about getting to the final, it [First World Cup final since 1992] probably hasn't sunk in. We were tipped as favorites, 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 and incredible and really looking forward to Sunday,"
(With Sky Sports Inputs)
