T20 World Cup: England are contenders again after impressive victory over New Zealand
That was much, much
better.
The manner of England's victory over New
Zealand on Tuesday should reassert Jos Buttler's side as one of the favourites
for the Men's T20 World Cup again.
Last week's five-run defeat to Ireland was
obviously disappointing.
Yes, if the rain had not come and Moeen Ali
had been able to bat just a few more balls they would have won.
But it was a poor performance and England
deserved to lose.
In contrast, when the pressure was really on, and when other England white-ball teams have buckled - before the 2019 World Cup-winning team at least - they did pretty much everything right.
Moeen dropped a simple catch to dismiss Glenn
Phillips but otherwise England were ruthless against a team many people had as
favourites after their 89-run demolition of Australia.
They were ruthless at the toss, having seen
the turn offered by the surface in the game between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan
earlier in the day and opting to bat first - despite their preference to chase.
They were ruthless with the bat, capitalising
on New Zealand's two drops of Buttler. And when the game got tight with the
ball, they closed it out expertly.
But what really impressed me was the
flexibility England showed, both with bat and ball.
England have been criticised for being too
rigid in the past. Here they mixed up the batting order - promoting Moeen to
attack the spin and then Liam Livingstone to try and accelerate the scoring.
It may not have come off but it was absolutely
the correct decision.
Buttler also opened the bowling with Moeen's
off-spin and brought on leg-spinner Adil Rashid in the powerplay, something we
rarely see him do, which showed a captain and team switched on to the game.
People may still debate Ben Stokes' position
in the team after his eight from seven balls down the order but I just cannot
imagine an England white-ball team without the all-rounder.
He is the talisman, such a huge figure on the
field and in the dressing room, and England still need his wise head and
experience.
We should not forget it was Stokes who turned
the momentum, as he does so often, by dismissing New Zealand captain Kane
Williamson to break what had looked like a match-winning partnership with
Phillips.
In a funny sort of way, the long break from
last Wednesday's Ireland defeat, following the washout on Friday against
Australia, will have done England some good.
It allowed them the break to get away from
Melbourne and regroup.
Chris Woakes came into this game under a bit
of pressure after his wayward display against Ireland but he did a good job,
taking 2-33 from four overs.
It will help him to get rid of the baggage of
his previous spell.
The aggressive way Alex Hales batted in his 52
from 40 balls was another positive, as well as the obvious boost England will
get from their captain Buttler playing so brilliantly for his 47-ball 73.
This was his 100th T20 international and in
his knock he overtook former skipper Eoin Morgan to become England's highest
run-scorer in the format.
He is undoubtedly England's greatest T20
player - once again showing he has every shot in the book.
The hit off Trent Boult in the 17th over - a
back-of-a-length slower ball smacked back over the bowler's head with a
horizontal bat - was a display of brutal, raw power.
Buttler is a very special player and if he
carries on in this form it will clearly improve England's chances.
They have to be favourites to progress going
into the final round of games, given Australia are still well behind on net
run-rate.
We watched Sri Lanka, England's opponents on
Saturday, beat Afghanistan earlier in the day and while they did what they had
to do to win, Buttler's side should have all of the momentum going to Sydney.
Sri Lanka have not had a very good tournament
- their fielding has been wretched at times - and they have lost a number of
bowlers to injury.
The pitch can be low and slow in Sydney and we
saw in Sri Lanka's shock Asia Cup win they have an attack that can play well in
those conditions, but it will also benefit England that they have played on
such a surface here in Brisbane.
Australia, meanwhile, play Afghanistan on
Friday - a game you would expect them to win emphatically.
All of these predictions come with a health
warning, and we will have to keep calculators close by, but the form England
showed against New Zealand, added to the fact they will know exactly what is
required, means I believe they will have enough to go through.
They will certainly be feeling a lot more confident when they leave Brisbane on Wednesday than when they arrived.
