England are seeing the benefits of fitness and fielding work at the T20 World Cup after previously not meeting their own high standards, says all-rounder Alice Capsey.

Dropped catches and a lack of athleticism in the field dogged England during their early exit at the 2024 T20 World Cup and their 16-0 defeat in the 2024-25 Ashes down under.

Coach Charlotte Edwards said she would make players “accountable” for their fitness when she took over last year and, though they dropped chances against West Indies on Wednesday, England have performed far better in the field during this World Cup campaign.

“We’ve put a massive shift in with our fitness, our fielding,” Capsey told BBC Sport.

“It was talked about a lot in the media but we were also not living up to our standards we wanted to perform at as well.

“We’re starting to see the benefits of that now.”

Edwards introduced minimum fitness standards for her players after taking over last April. Former England spinner Alex Hartley was among those to question fitness levels under the previous regime.

The new standards cover power, speed and endurance and are personalised for each player depending on their body type and role in the team.

England, who have already qualified for the semi-finals before Saturday’s match against New Zealand at The Oval, have a catch success percentage of 52% at the ongoing World Cup, but that does not give a true reflection of their improvement.

They dropped six chances in the win over West Indies at Lord’s but five of those ranged from tough to very difficult.

“Fielding seems to be a really enjoyable and fun thing at the minute,” Capsey said. “We’re all running around with smiles on our faces.

“You’ve got Gibbo [all-rounder Dani Gibson] creating some unbelievable saves on the boundary, some amazing catches and those half chances which previously we might not have been confident enough to even give them a go.

“Our commitment is as high as ever. We’re enjoying playing together and I think that’s really showing on the pitch.”

Though England have already qualified for the last four, they may need a victory to guarantee finishing top of the group. In that scenario, they would likely avoid Australia in the semi-finals.

The hosts, who are unlikely to make drastic changes to their XI, will again be without captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who has been given more time to recover from her calf injury.

She batted for around 30 minutes in the nets at training on Friday evening and did not appear restricted.

Defending champions New Zealand need to win and hope other results go their way to progress.

If they do not qualify for the last four, Saturday will be the final international appearances for three iconic White Ferns players – Suzie Bates, Lea Tahuhu and Sophie Devine.