Impact of England Openers in the WT20 2016, India

England are a team that, traditionally, does not play spin bowling very well and hence the onus on its openers to provide a rapid start while the ball is still new and hard, and fast bowlers are probably in operation is all the more imperative. England has one opener who is in the form of his life and hitting the ball as sweetly as anyone else in the world while the other spot is debatable. Let us look at the impact that the English Openers will have on the ICC WT20 2016.

Alex Hales

Alex Hales had a horror run in the four match test series against South Africa where he struggled to lay bat to ball but he has been in punishing form in coloured clothing, making 5 consecutive half century scores in the ODI series that followed, including a hundred and a 99. He hits the ball cleanly and likes thrashing the ball straight, a virtue that helps him keep his body shape intact. He is also strong on the back foot and likes cutting and pulling anything which is even remotely short. He has all the shots in the book and will be the key man for England while opening the innings.

His whirlwind 64 ball 116* in the last WT20 helped England beat Sri Lanka, the eventual champions, in the group match. Hales has played 38 T20I’s for England and has an impressive average of over 34 and a strike rate almost touching 140 making him a high impact player for the English in the shortest format of the game.

Impact Rating – 8/10

Jason Roy

A hard hitting and an extremely destructive opener, Jason Roy is an English opening batsman born in South Africa. A clean striker of the cricket ball down the ground, he also revels in playing unconventional shots like the switch hits. He started the ODI series against South Africa with a bang, smashing 48 off just 30 balls but his form has since deserted him. Consistency is always a difficult virtue for attacking opening batsmen, only a few are able to maintain that for long. Roy has played 7 T20I’s and with a highest score of just 29 is yet to carry his domestic form to top flight cricket.

He will be under severe pressure from James Vince, a batsman in the mould of Ajinkya Rahane who plays more conventional shots but has an impressive record. Jason Roy might have one last chance to prove himself in the second T20I which is slated for tomorrow night.

Impact Rating – 5/10

James Vince

James Vince is a young man who has been tipped to do well in all formats for England by those who have seen him. He made an impressive debut for England in T20I’s against Pakistan where he made 125 runs at an average of 41 in the three matches. He represented Karachi in the ongoing PSL and had only an average outing, not making a 50 in 7 innings.

Impact Rating – 5/10

England will have to choose between Roy and Vince for the second openers slot considering the form that Hales is currently in and him bedding his place down.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Hales, Buttler Power England to Consecutive Wins

After the high scoring affair at Bloemfontein where England powered to 399 before de Kock put South Africa on course for a victory only to be denied by the rain and D/L method, Port Elizabeth promised a much more sedate affair with the slow pitch on offer.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first after making two changes, Rabada and Abbott coming in for Morris and de Lange which surely bolstered their bowling attack.

In the first ODI, Amla was bowled off Willey and this time it was Topley who got through his defences to get him for just four. South Africa scored only 12 in the first six overs but then both de Kock and du Plessis got on with it and South Africa were on 52-1 after 10. De Kock went leg before to Stokes after losing a review for 22 off 33 balls while du Plessis fell just short of his half century falling to one from Rashid that gripped and turned to take the edge. Du Plessis made 46 from 48 balls and South Africa were 98-3 in 20 overs. By this time Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid had turned the squeeze on, South Africa ambling to 135-3 after 30 overs.

It was a slow surface with the ball coming on after holding in the pitch a bit and hence made timing difficult. Even the highly skilled AB de Villiers was finding the navigation on this pitch difficult, reaching 65 off 87 balls with just four boundaries. He broke the shackles when he smashed a six off Jordan but when he tried to repeat the shot off Stokes, Jordan pulled off a blinder catching a steepler over his shoulders. When Duminy and Rossouw fell in successive Topley overs, South Africa had lost whatever hopes they would have had of having a late burst. In the end they could only muster 64-4 in the last 10 to reach 262-7 in their 50 overs.

Jason Roy started brightly again but his innings was cut short by a full in ducker that rattled his stumps, Abbott doing the damage. The already slow pitch was getting slower and batting was getting more and more difficult, England reached their hundred only in the 23rd over. Root was out there adjusting to the pitch and he made a painful 38 off 64 balls before Abbott cleaned him up too with the help of an inside edge. English skipper Eoin Morgan was sprightlier in his 29 off 28 balls before he was caught by de Villiers off Morkel. Morkel then got Stokes as well, cleaning him up off an inside edge for nought, after he had survived a leg before appeal off Tahir with the help of DRS.

England needed 65 off the final ten overs with a well set Hales at the crease and Jos Buttler just joining him. Hales gloved a catch to de Kock off the impressive Abbott to fall for 99 made off 124 balls but the hero of the first match for England Jos Buttler biffed 3 fours off the 44th over and then clobbered 3 sixes off the 46th to kill the chase. He made a peppy 48* off just 28 balls on a difficult pitch, on which no batsmen from either side could come to terms with.

So, the English side is 2-0 up in the 5 match series and how the Protea team responds to this situation will be interesting to see in the next week. England have looked very good so far and South Africa will have their task cut out if they are to salvage something out of this series.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.