The result may not have great significance in this World Twenty20 but
India could take heart, confidence and bragging rights after an
overwhelming victory over England in their Group A game in Colombo.
England's confidence, meanwhile, must have been crushed after a defeat
that can only be described as humiliating.
Both teams had already qualified for the Super Eight stage of the
tournament and this result made no difference to the opposition they
will face in those games. But, by inflicting such a resounding defeat on
the reigning champions and No. 1-rated T20I side, India underlined the
impression they have the personnel to challenge anyone in this
competition.
India, despite resting three members of their first choice side, won by
90 runs with England's enduring fallibility against spin bowling exposed
in brutal fashion once again. Bear in mind that these two teams face
each other in a four-Test series in India in the coming months and alarm
bells will surely be ringing at Lord's.
England's first error was to misread the pitch. While India included two
specialist spinners, England dropped Samit Patel to make way for the
extra seam option of Tim Bresnan. Their ploy of testing the India
batsmen with short deliveries was met with a series of cut and pulls
that suggested either that England's bowlers - Steven Finn apart - lack
the pace for such a ploy, or that, in these conditions anyway, the
reputation of Indian batsmen as flat-track bullies has been greatly
exaggerated. The truth probably lies somewhere between the two
conclusions.
But the defining feature of this match was England's inability to combat
spin bowling. India's two frontline spinners claimed six wickets for 25
runs in eight overs as England collapsed from 39 for 2 to 60 for 9. At
that stage, England were in danger of being dismissed for the lowest
T20I score - beating the 67 by Kenya against Ireland - before a
last-wicket stand of 20 prevented that one indignity. Still, England's
final total of 80 was their lowest in T20Is, surpassing the 88 they
managed against West Indies at The Oval in 2011. The margin of defeat is
also the largest, in terms of runs, England have suffered in T20Is and
the largest victory inflicted by India.
England were struggling even before the introduction of spin. Set 171 to
win, a total some way above par on a pitch that was just a little
slower than anticipated and did not allow England any time to settle in,
they lost Alex Hales in the first over, bowled by inswing as he
attempted to heave one over the leg side, before Luke Wright fell in the
third over, attempting to pull a delivery too full for the stroke.
It was MS Dhoni's decision to introduce the spin of Harbhajan Singh in
the Powerplay that precipitated England's decline. Harbhajan, playing
his first international game for more than a year, produced a wicket
maiden to start - Eoin Morgan was bowled by a quicker arm-ball as he
made room to cut - before Bresnan top-edged a sweep, Jos Buttler gave
himself room but missed and Graeme Swann skipped down the wicket and
missed a doosra. Harbhajan finished with 4 for 12, the best figures by
an Indian bowler in T20Is.
0 comments:
Post a Comment