What we learned from England's win over New Zealand

Jaideep Marar 23:52 06/06/2017
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  • It was a top all-round performance from England [Getty Images]

    England eased into the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy after a comfortable 87-run win over New Zealand at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Tuesday.

    Here’s what we learned from the match.

    ENGLAND TRULY ON A ROLL

    England have done everything expected of them to justify the favourites tag in the tournament. As hosts, they are familiar with the conditions giving their players an edge over the rest of the competition but the manner in which they have gone about their business to become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals increases their odds of winning the title.

    Their batting is in good health as the two 300-plus scores suggest, but the manner in which their bowling pack hunted down the Kiwis on Tuesday sends a warning to other contenders that they are going to brook no challenge.

    The pacers were quite hostile while leg-spinner Adil Rashid teased the batsmen with his guile to unsettle the Kiwis. The onus now is on the other challengers to step up.

    WILLIAMSON’S MASTERY

    New Zealand’s chase of 311 began in difficult conditions. It was extremely windy at the Sophia Gardens and the pitch with indifferent bounce was being exploited to the hilt by the England pacers.

    Opener Luke Ronchi fell to the first ball he faced, but in walked their best batsman Kane Williamson. And the manner in which he went about taking charge of the chase was enchanting.

    Barring the initial phase when he took time to assess the conditions, he always had the upper hand in the battle against the England bowlers. He adjusted beautifully to the spin of Rashid as he did against the English pacers on a tricky pitch where deliveries kept low and some reared up disconcertingly, one even crashing into his helmet.

    But he stood tall, unperturbed by the surface as he went on to make a classy 87 from 98 deliveries. His innings that had eight fours was easily the best this tournament had seen so far as the difficulty factor was pretty high.

    A century in the first match followed by an equally good knock, Williamson is truly living up to the billing as a world-class batsman.

    BUTTLER DELIVERS ANOTHER SPECIAL

    One of the key players in England’s recent surge in limited-overs cricket has been Jos Buttler and he proved it with another sterling display at Cardiff.

    It may not have been among his best knocks but it would rank high in value as it came at a time when the Kiwis were closing in to restrict England to a sub-300 score.

    The 26-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman came in the 34th over and he hit his first four after facing 24 balls, in the 43rd over. But, thereafter, he unleashed his trademark ramp shots, one even landing on the TV camera gantry behind the stumps, to steal the thunder from the Kiwis.

    His unbeaten 61 off 48 balls meant England crossed the 300-mark in ODIs for the 23rd time since the 2015 World Cup.

    Buttler, who hit two fours and two sixes, scored 44 of the 89 runs England added in the last 10 overs. That he scored most of his runs in the company of tailenders makes it even more special.

    Jos Buttler, during his innings on Tuesday [Getty Images]

    Jos Buttler, during his innings on Tuesday [Getty Images]

    HOW TO REIN IN STOKES

    New Zealand bowlers faced the uphill task of containing the strong England batting line-up and they did fairly well in making the hosts toil for their runs.

    Barring the second-wicket alliance of 81 runs between opener Alex Hales and Joe Root, the Kiwi bowlers did not allow any big association to flourish with the next best partnership being 54 runs between Root and Ben Stokes.

    They either dug in short or bowled wide to frustrate the batsmen, particularly to Stokes. The Blackcaps kept bowling a widish off-stump line to the England all-rounder, to resist him from going for the big hits.

    To Stokes’ credit, he hung in there and still struck four fours and two sixes in his 53-ball 48. Other teams keeping a close watch on the game will be keen to use the same ploy against Stokes and it will be interesting to see how he counters it.

    TIME RUNNING OUT FOR ROY

    It is good to have the backing of your captain during troubled times but if the poor run of scores that Jason Roy continues to rake up doesn’t stop then even Eoin Morgan will be forced to have a rethink.

    Ahead of the tournament, Morgan had said Roy will open throughout, but with scores of 1 and 13 from two games to go with the 4, 8, 1 he could muster during the home one-day series against South Africa last month, Roy is not justifying the faith shown in him by the team management.

    While most England fans will be keen to see him replaced by Jonny Bairstow, Roy’s former Surrey teammate and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, who is a TV commentator for the tournament, had some words of advice for the 26-year-old opener.

    “He just needs to keep things simple and move along by rotating strike and maybe allowing Alex Hales to take the lead to score the runs. He can maybe take a backseat and allow himself to get into rhythm and get into form,” Sangakkara said on air.

    Yet, on current form, Roy is treading on thin ice and may not get a chance to redeem himself.

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