Think there was the legacy of a few different things going into this innings.
Firstly, our lower middle order has been garbage for the last four years and so the top/middle play more conservatively to avoid losing wickets than they might otherwise. However neesham/cdg/santner are... Ok. They have performed reasonably this tournament and are the best we have. Might need to trust them more to play longer innings if needed, rather than just biff at the end (which btw, they're less capable of against the very top bowlers).
Secondly, this approach of end-loading the chase to win in the last over (or near enough) has worked a couple of times this tournament, even though it possibly shouldn't have. Especially against SA where we got out of jail.
So we've dialled it too far towards the careful start and this was a reality check. We also have Nicholls now instead of the more aggressive (but useless) Munro, so it's pretty clear this means Guptill and Taylor need to up the scoring #intent, be #proactive and #earntheright. As long as we've learned that from this loss, we can move on better.
The bowling is mostly good and Boult and Ferguson are playing with freedom and enjoying themselves. Santner should be better, Henry too, and even the part timers have done a job. Can click at the right time, though the top sides have a lot of batting.
Need to approach the England game like it's a must-win. It's probably not, but who wants to limp into the semis a distant fourth. I would oddly like to play Australia again in the semi, attack with the ball and give a better account of ourselves. Either get the monkey off our back and deserve a final spot, or lose (gloriously). Nothing to lose.
