Wounded England want a fresh start vs the Proteas

By Chetan Narula

A Bowling Lesson While England’s overall performance was progressive, at the same time, they ran into Gayle, arguably the greatest batsman the T20 format has ever seen. Simply put, Gayle ate English attack for dinner. They couldn’t do much except stand witness and realise that they had erred in line and length often. Furthermore, England should understand the value of buffer runs in T20 cricket. An additional 20-30 to the parscore allows bowlers to defend against such marauding innings. That is where they fell short and must improve.

Batsman Did Well On Wednesday against the West Indies, England did actually make 182 runs in 20 overs, and it served well with their aggressive tones. They didn’t hasten their scoring, looked busy in the middle and cleared the ropes with intent. And then they scored 42 runs in overs 11-15 and then another 59 runs in the last five overs. Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler showed the new England approach to limited-overs cricket. They need at least a repeat.

South Africa’s Batting Order The Proteas always enter any world tournament counted among the favourites, and this time is no different. Perhaps, the promotion of AB de Villiers to the opening slot improved their chances even further. He is the best batsman in world cricket today, and can be as explosive as Gayle on any given day, if not better. With the English already reeling under a Gayle-storm, the very sight of him walking out first to bat might discourage them further.

Learn from South Africa’s Bowling It seemed that England haven’t been watching many IPL videos. For what it’s worth, South Africa’s bowlers did before they landed here in early October to play ODI and T20I series. Led by the young Kagiso Rabada, they tied the Indian batsmen in knots, especially in the death overs. On Friday, England’s batsmen will get a taste of it. There is Dale Steyn too.