Go get ’em Wrighty
England 196-5 (20 overs) Afghanistan 80 (17.2 overs)
England were always going to beat Afghanistan. Never once did it cross our minds that we might actually lose. Not even when the third best batsman wicket-keeper in the side, Craig Kieswetter, played out a maiden and then got bowled – leaving us 0-1 after the first over. It’s not like we have a history of losing these types of games. We all just imagined the defeat to Holland at Lord’s and the loss to Ireland when Kevin O’Brien momentarily turned into Viv Richards.
Anyway, enough of the sarcasm. It was brilliant to come through yesterday’s game with flying colours. Afghanistan would have been really fired up (we can’t think why) so it was brilliant to see us play sooo well, and beat the Afghans by a far bigger margin than India.
The real plus was obviously the performance of Luke Wright (Shane Watson’s better looking, less offensive twin), who played arguably his best innings for England. He finished the season really well for Sussex and has carried his great form into this tournament.
Wright certainly didn’t look like a bits and pieces cricketer yesterday. He finally looked like the finished article. Extra maturity has come from his stint in the Big Bash and the decision to focus on his batting, rather than his bowling. Thumbs up to Melbourne and Sussex!
The state of the wicket was another plus for England. Thus far the surfaces in Sri Lanka have helped the seamers. We’ve got no idea whether this will last, but the more assistance Finn, Dernbach and Broad get, the better our chances will be. And obviously, if the wickets aren’t helping the spinners, the more runs our batsmen should get.
India will be a far sterner test in the next game. However, if the pitches stay bouncy then England have got a great chance. We all know that India’s batsmen can destroy any attack on their day, but these days are infrequent on faster pitches when the ball’s flying around their ears.
Thus far this T20 World Cup has been a breath of fresh air after the travails of the summer – which is exactly what T20 cricket should be: a bit of a laugh and a chance to forget about proper cricket. To be honest, we’re getting bored of the KP saga and the controversy surrounding the England test squad now.
Who knows what the composition of England’s test side will be against India this winter – we suspect Root might join Cook at the top of the order as Compton isn’t a specialist opener for Somerset (and Trott likes opening about as much as Swann, Broad and Anderson like Kevin Pietersen) – but we’ll speculate about this nearer the time. For now, let’s just enjoy a bit of hit and giggle.
Now where did I put my four-pack of Sam Adams?
James Morgan
