Key events
Our teams match out through a sponsor’s guard of honour, fireworks going, wannabe epic music playing; if you weren’t excited before, you’re definitely not excited now. Anthem time.
Email! “As exciting as the SA Afghanistan slobberknocker was,” begins Darrien Bold, “given it was a mere group game why couldn’t it have ended as a draw with none of those great mates going away empty-handed?”
I guess another aspect of T20’s character is that it offers a definitive outcome, which is, dare I say it, an Americanisation? US sport and perhaps society doesn’t brook draws or ambiguity. Rather, it reveres drama and dichotomy: winners and losers, red and blue, money and money.
Sky have just shown an interview with Sam Curran, who was on final-over duty against Nepal. He says that nailing line is much more important than nailing length, and knew that if it went badly, as sometimes it can – he didn’t hide that from himself – it’d be a massive story. He’s got serious ticker, him, and, as we’ve seen throughout his career, the skill of timing.
Teams
West Indies: King, Hope (c, wk), Hetmyer, Powell, Rutherford, Chase, Holder, Shepherd, Hosein, Motie, Jopseph.
England: Salt, Buttler (wk), Bethell, Banton, Brook (c), Curran, Jacks, Dawson, Overton, Archer, Rashid.
England, of course, sneaked by Nepal on Sunday; West Indies whacked Scotland on Saturday.
If there’s heavy dew, batting first is a big advantage because it makes the ball hard to grip. Both sides have serious batting firepower, but unreliable attacks, so we can expect runs.
England win the toss and will field
Did no one tell Hope that tails never fails? England are fielding as having looked at the stats, they think that’s the play at the Wankhede; Jamie Overton is in for Luke Wood.
West Indies would’ve batted too, and also make one chance, Matthew Frode out and Roston Chase in, a tactical move replacing a paceman with a spinner.
It’s time for the toss. There’s confusion of whether Brook or Hope toss, it’s Brook, and Hope calls heads.
In Colombo, Australia, 182-6, are giving Ireland, 115-9 off 16.4, a doing. Oh, and as I type, they taken the final wicket to secure a 67-run victory.
Here’s a report on that SA v Afghanistan slobberknocker.
England v West Indies is one of the classic T20 matchups, principally because of the 2016 edition of this competition.
Understandably, that final assault ruined Ben Stokes’ career; he was never the same after that.
I wrote the below first thing this morning, but the point was emphasised by what happened in the Afghanistan v South Africa match, one of the most ludicrously brilliant you could wish to see. If you don’t know how it went, catch yourself up here, immediately; promise promise.
I can’t think of a forfeit for myself, but anyone who doesn’t deem the above worth their time, come up with something and I’ll do it, that’s how confident I am.
Preamble
The principal reason T20 has been so successful is more lifestyle than sporting: before it, cricket took a long time, now it doesn’t and, as attention-spans shorten while the cost of living increases and relative wages decrease, it suits more of the people more of the time.
But there’s solid middle-based rationale too: T20 can be settled by one individual having a day out, or a few swinging hard and hitting well for the not very much time it takes to turn a contest. As India, England and Australia grow ever richer and ever more remote, this aspect is of increasing significance.
These formulae – OK, I’m flattering my logic by calling them that – almost caught England out against Nepal, and operate with greater weight against West Indies. Of course, the loser of this contest will still expect to qualify for the Super 8 by beating everyone else but, as per the above, in this format of the game anyone can beat anyone, so you never quite know.
Play: 1.30pm
