Its time to talk about England Cricket Team. Can you guess which phase is suitable to start to talk about them? I believe majority of you got it right, it was in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, the match against Bangladesh and England lost that match and was knocked out of the World Cup and failed to reach the quarterfinal of the mega event. This early exit from the World Cup 2015 gave them all reason to sit, think and regroup as a team.
Journey of T20 World Cup 2016
Another ICC tournament, another opportunity for this fearless England Team. Their moral was shattered in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Captain Eoin Morgan to face a tough task to build England Cricket Team and he didn’t disappointed. The likes of Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow added to top of the order. The brand of cricket Captain Morgan wanted was just to be fearless and ruthless and his boys did exactly the same result.. All they wanted is to show their brand of cricket. Lets see their journey in the T20 World Cup 2016.
1st match vs West Indies at Wankhede
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| England were slammed by Chris Gayle in their opening match at Wankhede. Image Source - Google | Image by - itv |
West Indies won the toss and opted
to chase as Wankhede is well known as a chasing ground. Jason Roy(15) and Alex
Hales(28) gave them a decent start. England were 49/1 in their first 6 overs.
Although middle order batsman scored at good strike rate to kept the scorecard
going in the all important opening match as winning start is always going to
play crucial role in such big tournaments. Joe Root (48 runs off 36 balls), Jos
Buttler(30 runs off 20 balls) and Skipper Eoin Morgan(27* runs off 14 balls)
gave important contribution and England set a target of 183. Is this total safe
against power packed batting of West Indies and Wankhede batting track? England’s David Willey gave them perfect start
and got the better of J Charles. This was the last time England players got some joy in the 2nd inning. They were badly tore away by Gayle storm. The big left handed batsman hit England bowlers all around at Wankhede. The Man of the Match, The Universe Boss scored unbeaten 100 runs off 48 balls with 11 towering sixes.
2nd match vs South Africa at Wankhede
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| Joe Root playing one of his shots against South Africa to help England chased record 230 runs Image Source - Google | Image by - Bharat Sundaresan |
England won all important toss at Wankhede and elected to field first. Their decision backfired them badly as South African openers Hashim Amla 58(31) and Q De Kock 52(24) made the full use of batting powerplay and scored 83/0 in the powerplay. With the likes of AB de Villiers, JP Dumniy and David Miller yet to bat, England knew they need to play out to their skin to have some hope to win this match. Both openers along with AB de Villiers 16(8) fall inside 4 overs but it didn't effected their run rate. South Africa were 133/3 in 12 overs. England bowlers applied some brake on the run rate. Du Plessis struggled for his run a ball 17. But late fireworks from JP Duminy 54*(28) and David Miller 28*(12) helped South Africa to post 229/4 in 20 overs.
England needed something special here. A loss could have daunted their journey. But their batters had some other plans. Their openers scored 50 runs in just 2.5 balls, all thanks to Jason Roy who scored 43 runs off 16 balls. Jason Roy, Alex Hales 17(7) and Ben Stokes 15(9) lost their wickets inside 6 overs. But the chase was well set for England as they scored 89 runs in that 6 overs. Dependent Joe Root held up one end. Root looked well set for something special. He rotated the strike well and played some shots in between. On the other end, other batter came, played some shots and in the process lost their wickets. But with the help Root who scored sensational and memorable 83 runs off just 44 balls, England won the match with 2 balls spare. Joe Root adjusted Man of the Match. This match gave the much needed momentum to England.
3rd match vs Afghanistan at Feroz Shah Kotla
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| All rounder M Ali rescued England with his 41* and he also took 1 wicket to help his side to win against Afghanistan. Image Source - Google | Image by - zeenews.india |
Boosted by their performances against South Africa, England's next assignment was against Afghanistan. England won the toss and elected to bat. England top order struggled on the slow pitch of Kotla, Delhi. They lost their top 4 inside the powerplay and scored just 42 runs. Roy, Vince, Morgan and Root fall cheaply. Their fortunes didn't changed after powerplay as they lost Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes in quick succession. England were trailing at 57/6 in the 10th over. Afghanistan on the verge of a big upset. But England's lower order had different plans. Moeen Ali scored unbeaten 41 runs off 33 balls. Ali was well supported by Jordan (15) and Willey (20). England finished with 142/7 and can sense fightback from his bowlers. Afghanistan's chase wasn't started off well as they lost 3 wickets in first 3 overs and from there onwards, Afghanistan was never near to the chase. Most off their batsman got the start but didn't capitalize on that as a result they scored just 127/9 in 20 overs, falling short by 15 runs. Moeen Ali was awarded the Man of the Match for his much needed 41* and 1 wicket. So, England survived and escaped themselves from huge upset from Afghanistan.
4th match vs Sri Lanka at Feroz Shah Kotla
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| Jos Buttler powers England to beat Sri Lanka and occupy Semi Final birth. Image Source - Google | Image by - Simon Wilde |
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field. England lost Alex Hales (0) early in the inning but Jason Roy and Joe Root stabilized England's inning and scored decent 65/1 in first 10 overs. Kotla pitch was slow so it seems like England's plan was to explore in later part of inning. Joe Root 25(24) and Jason Roy 42(39) fall in quick succession before batted sensibly on slow pitch. England,unlike in previous game, kept wickets in hand and that paid off as Jos Buttler 66*(37) played blinder in later part of the inning. He was well supported by skipper Morgan (22). England finished at 171/4. Sri Lanka struggled right from the first over and their scorecard reads 15/4 in 3 overs, all thanks to some fine spell of David Willey. Captain Angelo Mathews didn't lost there, he along with Kapugedera (30) and Thisara Perera (20) did some fight and kept Sri Lanka in the chase. But death over specialist, Chris Jordan was too good for Sri Lankan lower order. He bowled with pace and accuracy and took 3 wicked in the later part of inning to left Captain Mathews a mountain to climb. Skipper Mathews's 73* runs off 54 balls was not good enough and Sri Lanka lost by 10 runs. Jos Buttler, for his 66*(37) was awarded Man of the Match. With that England through to the Semi-Finals, where they faced unbeaten and dark horses New Zealand.
Semi-Final vs New Zealand at Feroz Shah Kotla
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| England opener Jason Roy showed hs master class stroke play to hand England thorugh to Final vs West Indies. Image Source - Google | Image by - |
England was up against the only unbeaten side of the tournament, New Zealand at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. England won the toss and elected to field. David Willey got the better of Martin Guptill for 15. But Skipper Kane Williamson (32) and Collin Munro (46) batted sensibly in the first 10 overs. It was 91 runs on the board when New Zealand lost their skipper in the 11th over. Munro followed him soon. Corey Anderson struggled a bit for his 28(23). Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan didn't allowed New Zealand batsman to score freely in the last 4 overs. As a result New Zealand just scored over 20 runs their final 4 overs and finished with modest 153/8. England started the chase in champions way. They scored 67 runs in first 6 overs. All thanks to Jason Roy 78(44). He was well supported by Alex Hales 20(19). Roy , Hales and Skipper Morgan(0) lost their wickets in quick succession. Though Joe Root's matured inning of 27*(22) and Jos Buttler's quickfire 32*(17) made the chase a lot easier. Buttler finished the game with a 6 and England won by 7 wickets and reached the Finals. Jason Roy won the Man of the Match award for his 78 runs. New Zealand chocked in the Semi-Finals.
Final vs West Indies at Eden Gardens
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| England all rounder, Ben Stokes after been hit 4 sixes in a row in the final over of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 Final. Image Source - Google | Image by - Chiranjib Sengupta |
Its a big final. Its England vs West Indies. West Indies won the toss in the final and opted to chase. High on confidence, England came out to bat but S Badree bowls Jason Roy out for a duck on the very second ball of the match. Alex Hales(1) followed Roy in the next over. When Skipper Morgan fall off badree at slip, England was all in trouble in the big final. They scored just 33 runs in the powerplay for the loss of 3 important wickets. Joe Root (54) and Jos Buttler (36) did counterattack and brought the match in balance. England were 84/3 in 11 overs and with the likes of Buttler, Stokes and Moeen Ali, England was looking to explode. But DJ Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite had different plans. First Buttler was undone by Brathwaite. 2 overs later, DJ Bravo did some champion dance as he send back Stokes and Ali in 3 deliveries. Root followed them in the next ball. West Indies somehow applied brakes on their proceedings. Jordan (12) and David Willey (21) played some big shots to end England's inning on 155/9.
Its all set for West Indies to lift the trophy because the kind of batting power they had, this total looked very ordinary. But golden arm of Root did some unexpected stuffs. He send back Charles and Gayle within 3 balls to gave England all reason to fight back into the match. Semi-Final hero, L Simmons out for a duck. West Indies were trailing 11/3 inside 3 overs. Champion DJ Bravo and the man of big matches, Marlon Samuels gave some fight back. DJ Bravo looked scratchy before fall to Adil Rashid. He made 25(27). Andre Russell and Skipper Darren Sammy fall within 3 balls to gave England all hope for the title. West Indies needed 45 runs off 24 balls. Jordan and Willey balled tight lines to brought the equation to 19 runs off the final over. Its England's game to loose now. Ben Stokes to defend 19 runs in final over in front of Carlos Brathwaite. What happened next was History.
Ball 1 : SIX
Ball 2 : SIX
Ball 3 : SIX
Ball 4 : SIXXXXX
and there comes the famous,"Carlos Brathwaite, Carlos
Brathwaite, REMEMBER THE NAME". And its a history for West Indies. Oh my word, What a game we had witnessed of. They became to the only team to won 2 ICC T20 World Cup. And their Skipper Darren Sammy became their golden captain. One should feel sorry for Ben Stokes. It reminds me the Semi-Final of World T20, where Mike Hussey destroyed sipnner Ajmal in the last over.
Expectations in T20 World Cup 2020
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