Pallekele (Sri Lanka), February 21 England captain Harry Brook admitted on Saturday that his team had underestimated some of the teams in their group and promised stronger performances in the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup.
England, the two-time champions of the tournament, have been inconsistent so far, winning three tense matches against associate nations and losing to former champions West Indies.
They nearly lost to Nepal before narrowly winning by four runs, suffered a 30-run defeat to West Indies, and then beat Scotland and Italy to reach the Super 8s.
They will face co-hosts Sri Lanka in their first Super 8 match on Sunday.
"It was obviously a challenging start to the competition. We probably underestimated a few of the teams, and they put up a really good fight. And yeah, we came here to get through this stage, and thankfully, we have. So, we're in the Super 8s now, and that's our main focus," Brook said during the pre-match press conference.
"We see this as a completely fresh start. Obviously, with no points carried over, it's a new competition, and we can see it that way too.
"Just a few players haven't been performing well yet, but hopefully, with the competition we're about to face, they can start to perform and have some match-winning performances."
England had previously won the 3-0 T20 series against Sri Lanka at the same venue as a warm-up for the T20 World Cup.
"We had a very good series against them here and on this ground, so we can take a lot of confidence from that. We have experience on this surface and in this ground.
"We're really looking forward to playing them. And hopefully, we can play our best cricket and put them under pressure."
Brook also conceded that his team had been "slightly too cautious with the bat" in the group games and indicated that they would try to be more aggressive going forward.
"We've been a bit too cautious with the bat. We can probably be a bit more brave in certain situations and have more faith in the guys behind us to be able to score well.
Talking about the Sri Lankan team, he said, "I've learned that you can't take any team for granted, as we've seen in the group stages. We've managed to sneak through in a couple of games.
"Some of their batters are batting really well. So hopefully, we can get a few wickets in the power play. And Nissanka is in good form at the moment. So it would be ideal if we can get him out early.
"We just want to go out there and play our best cricket. We can really put them under a little more pressure, especially with the batting depth that we have.
"They're obviously a strong side with a lot of confidence after some very good wins, and if we stick to our guns and play our best cricket, there's no reason why we can't beat them."
When asked if all-rounder Jacob Bethel is fit to bowl, Brook said, "Not sure yet... he has a cut on his finger. So, he'll have to wear a bandage, but if there's any way we can get around that, we'd like to bowl him. But at the moment, I don't think it's possible."
"Hopefully, he can somehow get over that and bowl a few overs."
When asked about the rain forecast for Saturday, Brook said, "You can sometimes get carried away thinking that you're going to play a five-over game, and then it ends up being a T20, and you play it slightly differently.
"So, we just have to prepare as if it is a T20 game, and hope that the rain stays away. And if it doesn't, then we have to adapt and realise that we have to play the game slightly differently."
