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Topley snaps six in England’s series-levelling win over India at Lord’s
Reece Topley rewrote record books with his 6/24 that helped England stage a remarkable comeback with the ball and successfully defend 246 against India. The three-match ODI series reamins alive. Topley’s maiden ODI fifer – now the best bowling figures by an Englishman in the format – rattled the visitors in a modest chase, overshadowing their own disciplined effort with the ball earlier in the day.
Under helpful conditions, English pacers were right on the money from the word go with Topley picking two of India’s top-four that fell inside 12 overs for just 31 runs on the board. The left-armer trapped Rohit Sharma LBW for a 10-ball duck, the India captain burning the first review on his way back while Shikhar Dhawan’s struggles came to an end after a 26-ball 9 when he was caught down leg-side.
With a modest target in front of them, all India needed was a sensible stand to put their chase back on the right track. And for a very brief while, the in-form pair of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya seemed to be doing just that. The former survived an LBW scare on which England wasted a review before smoking Carse into the second tier stands, while the latter was nearly run out on 11. Together, however, the pair powered through and upped India’s scoring by adding 42 runs in the nine overs. That’s when Buttler threw the ball back to Topley, who gave England a much-needed breakthrough. Cramped for room attempting to cut a length ball outside off, Suryakumar ended up chopping it onto his stumps to fall for 29-ball 27.
India had only just passed the 100-run mark when Hardik top-edged a pull off Moeen Ali and holed out to deep midwicket, leaving Jadeja to fend with the tail. Buttler gambled by persisting with the offspinner for another over but with Mohammed Shami deciding to have a go at everything thrown at him, and even managing to loft one over the ropes straight down the ground, England rang in the bowling changes from both ends.
The hits and misses continued with Jadeja surviving a run-out scare and Shami getting a life on 18 off Carse. And yet again, it was Topley’s return that helped England curb the runs that had started to flow again for India. Shami miscued a slower full toss after an entertaining cameo of 23, and Jadeja was yorked by an offspinning delivery first up from Liam Livingstone.
The wicket-maiden had left India reeling at 140 for 8 – the result of the game a forgone conclusion. Topley wrapped up the formalities in no time as he bowled Yuzvendra Chahal for his first-ever five-wicket haul and had Prasidh Krishna caught behind two balls later to script a 100-run win for the hosts.
Put in to bat earlier, England too struggled against India’s tight bowling led by Chahal’s four-fer to get bundled out in the penultimate over. However, Moeen (47) dug in for two vital partnerships, adding 46 for the sixth wicket with Livingstone (33) and 62 for the seventh with Willey (41) that gave the hosts a total to defend.
English openers were just about beginning to catch up after their slow start when Jason Roy flicked a half-volley from Hardik Pandya straight to deep backward square leg. Chahal, who switched ends after just two overs, accounted for three of England’s finest by tempting them to target the short square boundaries.
In his run-a-ball 38, Bairstow gave England a bit of a push with fours in back to back overs but eventually fell in Chahal’s second over, having missed his slogsweep. A confident Joe Root tried to counter the LBW appeal after missing his sweep, but in turn ended up falling to it. Stokes showed a propensity to go for his strokes irrespective of the situation, and even managed to bag a couple of boundaries with his active reverse-sweeping. However, the same shot brought his downfall and even a desperate review was of no use. In between, Shami opened his account with a full and straight ball that Jos Buttler looked to flick and missed.
Livingstone, however, drove England forward with picture-perfect shots down the ground for a six and four off Chahal and Bumrah respectively. Along with Moeen Ali, he arrested England’s slide by putting on a 46-run stand that was brought to an abrupt end by Pandya once again. Livingstone used his muscle to pull a couple of short balls for a six and four. But the India allrounder had the last laugh when, for a third successive ball, the Englishman gave charge only to hole out straight to deep square leg this time.
In the six quiet overs that followed, Moeen and Willey got their eye in and then began to change gears as the next six yielded 40 runs. Prasidh Krishna came in the firing line as both batters fetched a six each in the 37th over. Willey brought up the fifty of the partnership and England’s 200 by the end of 40th while Moeen even swivel-pulled Bumrah into deep midwicket stands. However, Chahal returned to lend a crucial blow to England once again. Moeen, who was threatening to go big at death, had the longer boundary to clear with his slog-sweep but was beaten by the lack of pace on the delivery and ended up offering Jadeja a running catch near the deep square leg fence.
India’s discipline with the ball managed to slow England down at death, too. The five overs following the break of the partnership yielded only 27 despite Willey pulling Bumrah into the stands. However, the Indian spearhead came back with a slower ball to deceive the batter, who took the bait and sent another catch Iyer’s way. Bumrah capped things off with a trademark yorker, but even the 246 proved beyond India’s reach.
Brief scores:
Englan d 246 all out in 49 overs (Moeen Ali 47, David Willey 41; Yuzvendra Chahal 4-47, Jasprit Bumrah 2-49, Hardik Pandya 2-28) beat India 146 in 38.5 overs (Hardik Pandya 29, Ravindra Jadeja 29; Reece Topley 6-24) by 100 runs. (Cricbuzz)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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