Hits and Misses - ICC World T20 2012, Team England

England

Hits

1. The English started off with a bang as they dominated a spirited Afghan team who had run India close in their earlier encounter. It was a near perfect game for them.

2. Their number three, Luke Wright made a bright comeback to the English T20 team. He was their most spunky batsman with a couple of match winning 50's including a 99*.

3. Samit Patel came in against Sri Lanka and played spin bowling with such ease that it was difficult to imagine what would have been had he played all their games. England struggled against spin bowling right through the ICC World T20.

4. Steve Finn bowled with pace and fire upfront and was impossible to get away. He got early wickets in nearly all the games and troubled all batsmen with his disconcerting bounce and pace.

5. Eoin Morgan always came in after the fall of a couple of wickets and always when the pressure was on England, but he displayed deft touches and played some exquisite innings. His blistering 71* off just 36 balls, one of the highlights of the ICC World T20 2012, was not enough though to take England over the line against West Indies.

Misses

1. The opening pair of Craig Kieswetter and Alex Hales seemed to be participating in a mini competition of their own about who returns first to the dug out. England lost a wicket in the first over with one of the openers departing for a duck in each of their first 3 games. Things only just got better for them in the 4th game when they lost the first wicket in the 4th over. When Kieswetter was finally dropped for the final game, it was too little too late for England as they once again had a wretched start losing their in form batsman and make shift opener Luke Wright in the 3rd over.

2. The young and dynamic middle order consisting of Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow never looked settled and were found groping and prodding most of the time. They could never provide the English innings with the final thrust in the last 5-7 overs. Bairstow's painful innings of 18 off 29 must rank as one of the most disastrous innings of this World T20 as the English lost the game against the West Indies by just 15 runs.

3. The old problem of playing the spinners badly once again surfaced for the English as they played Harbhajan and Chawla in their group match against India like they were facing Murlitharan and Warne at their peak. The complete capitulation against the Indian spinners showed the world that their problems against the spinners were still not sorted out. Interestingly when they did manage to play the spinners better, they surrendered completely against pace. They lost 2 wickets in the first over of Ravi Rampaul against West Indies and then Malinga grabbed a 5fer against them a couple of games later. In both these matches they managed to play spin bowling well.

4. Jade Dernbach who is supposed to have a bag full of deliveries and variations to confound the batsmen was consistently costly. His economy rates tell a sorry tale... 6.86, 11.25, 9.5, 10.50


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