We haven't won anything yet, Bayliss warns England side

England players celebrate after defeating Sri Lanka by 10 runsEngland players celebrate after defeating Sri Lanka by 10 runs
England players celebrate after defeating Sri Lanka by 10 runs
England coach Trevor Bayliss has reminded his semi-final bound side 'we haven't won anything yet', despite a growing sense of excitement around their World Twenty20 charge.

England booked their place in the last four by holding off Sri Lanka in a nail-biting 10-run win on Saturday, their third victory in nine days.

A knockout berth is ample reward for a team who have arguably provided the best entertainment of the tournament, spanning the full gamut of emotions during a see-saw Super 10 stage.

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But Bayliss intends to bring his charges back down to earth as they prepare to face New Zealand in Delhi.

“I’ve already read one or two text messages I got this morning from England... we’ve got to understand we haven’t won anything yet,” he said.

“We’ve made the semi-final and yes, that’s a good achievement. But let’s not go over the top. It’s just a semi-final.

“Let’s keep everything in perspective. That can be difficult at times when you’re reading newspapers, watching television reports and getting text messages from home, but that’s a learning process. You have to go through that to see how difficult it can be.”

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Asked if he could at least appreciate a sense of satisfaction among England followers, Bayliss offered a dry smile and a response.

“That might be the difference between Australia and England,” said the 53-year-old from New South Wales.

If it was a light-hearted riposte, it was certainly not a joke.

Bayliss will be on the lookout for any over-exuberance and will snuff it out at source. He was in charge of Sri Lanka when they took the trophy two years ago in Bangladesh, but also when they were knocked out by England’s eventual winners in 2010 at the semi-final stage.

And he knows which experience he prefers.

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“If we lose on Wednesday or lose the final, no-one ever remembers the runners-up or the semi-finalists,” he said.

“I’ve had losses before. No-one goes through their career with a perfect record, but you’ve got to give yourself the best opportunity to win as many times as you possibly can.

“That’s about being in a good head space and not putting too much pressure on yourself.

“That allows you to play good cricket and if you can do that you give yourself a chance to win.

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“We are down to the last four and are still in the competition, so we have a chance to win.

“Obviously the other three teams will be thinking the same, three other teams who have been playing very good cricket, so it’s certainly not going to get any easier

“But what we’ve got to do is make sure we’re the ones who are playing good cricket, if we are then anything can happen.”

One factor that pleases Bayliss particularly is the intense match scenarios his young team have faced since arriving in India.

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New Zealand’s progress has been eerily serene, dominating a group that contained pre-tournament favourites India and Australia, both of whom crumbled at the Black Caps’ hands.

Even before their tense encounter with Sri Lanka, England had been doing things the hard way, losing their opener against the West Indies, needing a tournament record run-chase to beat South Africa and recovering from a major wobble against Afghanistan.

And Bayliss hopes they are now battle-hardened heading into the knockout phase.

“Once you’ve been there and been able to get through tight games it gives you the belief that you are good enough to do it,” he said.

“The more times you’re in the situation the better for the long-term benefit of the team.

“When you’ve been through it once or twice you can get used to the pressure to a degree.”

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