With the World Cup on the horizon, England’s T20 cricket side will have to dust themselves down and reassess where things went wrong as they lost 2-1 over the series to India despite a resolute performance at Trent Bridge, winning by 17 runs. The white ball game seems in desperate need of a facelift before things get underway down under for the World Cup in Australia, and with plenty of time until October they could do with a resurgence in form redolent of the Test side, who have beaten the New Zealand and India in recent weeks.
While they were far from favourites when it comes to cricket betting online, this inexperienced England side gave a good account of themselves, especially when you consider the plethora of talent the tourists had at their disposal in the East Midlands.
Matthew Mott has had a couple of months to assess his squad now and will be desperate to go one better than the heart-breaking semi-final defeat to New Zealand, in which they lost by five wickets. Plenty has changed since then and the series loss to India was a stark contrast to how they ended last year, but with these glimpses of excellence there is hope that the next series against South Africa can unearth a victory when the tips on cricket will look on them more favourably. Read on as we discuss the talking points from the final game in Nottingham.
Buttler off the mark
This was Jos Buttler’s first win since taking over as captain from Eoin Morgan, and while the batter will have plenty to do in order to match Morgan’s 42 victories, his leadership went a long way to restoring some dignity at Trent Bridge for a consolation, avoiding another capitulation against India. They could have just as easily lost another game, but Buttler played well and is proving an excellent choice for captain.
Not one to take all the praise for himself, Buttler was quick to comment on the good work of his team, who he spoke highly of after the game.
“It was good fun, a fantastic game of cricket and much more like what we’re used to seeing from our side so I was really pleased, especially with the response with the bat.”
He added: “I was pleased to see Richard Gleeson back it up with another performance and Chris Jordan has been excellent all series.”
Sky special
It’s hard coming up with superlatives to describe the hundred Suryakumar Yadavscored, perhaps due to just how natural it looked for the Mumbai Indians batter. ‘Sky’ gave the hosts a scare when he hit the second-highest T20 score for India and the second-best individual total against England, and earnt deserved applause from captain Rohit Sharma, who sang his praises when spearheading the comeback despite the loss on the day.
“It was a fantastic chase and we are proud of our fight,” he said.
“Suryakumar Yadav was magnificent to watch. I have been watching him for a while and he loves this format, he is unorthodox and has a wide range of shots. He never lets the tempo go. He has grown as player and is going from strength to strength.”
Reece Topley impresses
Although India needed 185 from 15 overs, the tension was understandably notched up from Yadav’s hundred, but Recce Topley did immensely well to calm things down. The 28-year-old, who has made 12 T20 international caps was named man of the match with a great bowling display, using his massive six-feet seven-inch frame to devasting effect in the final over. It will be interesting to see if England’s decision to pick an extra batter was a gamble that will pay off again.
