Andy Pakes looks at the emergence of Australia's James Pattinson and compares him to his England-capped brother Darren.
Sam Holloway looks at why test match cricket is not going to become extinct just yet
Manraj Bahra looks at the subtle differences between the forms of cricket and how teams shouldn't look to pick the same players in all forms.
Sports Editor James Tompkinson looks at the continuing problem of corruption within cricket as the cases of three Pakistani cricketers accused of spot fixing comes to an end
Defeat to Bangladesh saw their chances thrown into jeopardy but they were rescued a week later with a last-ditch victory over the West Indies.
Two trends have characterised England’s performances this world cup: firstly the paradoxical nature of their results, beating the best teams and losing to the worst; and secondly the closeness and frequent twisting and turning of their matches.
The Bangladesh game followed this pattern, as Andrew Strauss’s men posted an unconvincing 225 before fighting back with the ball, only to lose at the hands of an unlikely ninth wicket stand of 58.
England’s top order endured a slow start and it was not until Jonathan Trott (67) and Eoin Morgan (63), Kevin Pieterson’s replacement, shared the crease that the innings really got going. But both were dismissed before the all-important last few overs and the lower order failed to push the total up to a score England would have been comfortable with.
Bangladesh’s innings started strongly as Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes put on 52 for the opening partnership and later at 155-3 Bangladesh looked in a good position to win. But here England reasserted themselves with five quick wickets to reduce Bangladesh to 169-8, seemingly facing defeat.
Somehow Bangladesh forced their way back into the game, as tail-ender Shafiul Islam slogged a handful of big boundaries, including a six off Graeme Swann. Having reduced the run-rate again, Islam and his partner Mahmudullah knew that all they needed to do was hit ones and twos and not lose their wicket, and they’d win the game. And this is just what they did, completing a two wicket victory with an over to spare, sparking jubilant celebrations from the Bangladesh fans.
The game against West Indies thus became a must-win match, but England once more rode their luck. As against Bangladesh, England batted first and scored a reasonable, if unimposing, 243.
Trott’s 47 off 38 gave the innings momentum but after his dismissal the middle-order failed to get going again until Luke Wright came to the crease. His 44 off 57, along with Tim Bresnan’s 20 off 27, helped England post something of a competitive score.
Chris Gayle got West Indies’s reply off to a frightening start, hitting nine boundaries off just 21 balls. It was clear that his was the wicket that needed to be taken and, thankfully, James Tredwell did just that, having been moved into the attack by a clever tactical decision by Strauss. This dismissal prompted West Indies to collapse to 118-5 and once danger-man Kieron Pollard was out there looked to be no way back.
But yet again there was, as tail-ender Andre Russell, supported by a steady Ramnaresh Sarwan (31), smashed the Windies back into pole position with 49 runs off 46. Needing just 22 to win, with four wickets to spare and plenty of overs remaining, England’s World Cup campaign seemed over.
But of course, this has been no ordinary World Cup, and once more England pulled off a remarkable last-ditch victory. First Tredwell took Russell LBW, Swann Sarwan caught at short leg, and the reaming two batsmen in quick succession as West Indies were all out in a flash for 225, losing by 18 runs.
England’s qualification into the next round was not confirmed until two days later, when South Africa completed victory over Bangladesh. England in fact finished third in the group following India’s win over West Indies. This means their quarter-final will be against the second place team in group A, Sri Lanka.
England’s record this tournament reads two wins (South Africa and West Indies), one tie (India) and two defeats at the hands of minnows Ireland and Bangladesh. At their best, England are good enough to beat anyone and thus have a chance of winning this World Cup. But the question remains whether they possess the consistency and physical condition to win the three successive games necessary to win.
England are set to play their quarter-final this coming Saturday. The way their World Cup has gone so far, anything could happen.
Quarter –final draw:
Pakistan v West Indies
Australia v India
New Zealand v South Africa
Sri Lanka v England
Semi-final draw:
South Africa or New Zealand v Sri Lanka or England
Pakistan or West Indies v Australia or India
You must log in to submit a comment.
