England v Pakistan – 3rd T20
Jon Lewis made only one change, resting Lauren Bell and introducing Lauren Filer to form the only fast bowling option in the team.
That leaves us wondering who he sees replacing Amy Jones with the gloves, when the need arises.
Danni Wyatt made it clear why selectors have gone on persevering with her. After two vulnerable innings thus far, she was the leading force as England batted first again.
By the time England reached 100 (off 11.5 overs), Wyatt had contributed 71.
Maia Bouchier (8) accomplished the near impossible, repeating the absent-minded dismissal of the previous game, run out by Diana Baig. She made the beginner’s mistake of confusing a hard-hit shot with a run-making one. When Nat Sciver-Brunt reached the same score, she miscued a delivery from Nida Dar, to be caught by Sidra Ameen at backward-point.
Wyatt finally fell for 87 (off 48 balls!), having enthralled the large crowd, but offered three chances that went begging. A fourth one was held by Sadaf Shamas deep on the off-side.
The other change England made was to delay Alice Capsey’s arrival to No 5. No sooner had she taken guard than Heather Knight was dismissed cheaply once again (12). Capsey likewise. She scored a single, then chanced another to short third and didn’t make it.
England continued their aggressive approach. Danielle Gibson was caught, again at short third-man. But no, it was a no-ball! Fortunately for them, the Pakistani fielders looked like a juggling act; there was no certainty that balls hit in the air would be safely pocketed. Other sides may not be so generous.
With the score on 168-8 after 18, all the wickets to fall had been catches, bar the two run-outs. It was Don Bradman who said: ‘If I don’t hit the ball in the air, I can’t be caught.’ But he wasn’t faced with the dictates of limited-over cricket. Sarah Glenn corrected this oddity; she was clean bowled by Baig.
So England descended from 120-3 to 176 all out. Given the visitors’ known frailties, they were probably unconcerned.
Anyone looking forward to the World Cup might be worried all the same. There it is impossible to avoid the strongest sides on the road to glory. An innings dependent on one batter (Wyatt 87/176) is very unlikely to succeed. All too often squadrons of English batters are dismissed cheaply, in a way that rarely occurs in Australia.
The Reply
Charlie Dean had the unusual experience of being hit for three 4s in her first over, then adding five wides and a single for good measure.
In her first outing Filer didn’t show the accuracy the England selectors must have been hoping for.
Pace is one thing (70 mph+), but without accuracy it is of limited value. She came back strongly later to earn more credit marks (4-0-25-1).
Pakistan had 40 on the board after five overs; it was time for Ecclestone to restore order. She had no early success; indeed Sidra Ameen and Gull Feroza had added 60 before the spinner found her way to Ameen’s pad (26). It was sadly typical of Pakistan’s current troubles that Feroz went straight after, mis-hitting Dean to Filer (30).
Now Wyatt proved that her brilliant catches at backward-point are perfectly normal. She held on to another screamer to dismiss the keeper Muneeba Ali.
A curiosity of this innings was what happened after that catch in the eleventh over. From there the England bowlers failed to take a single wicket. In the normal rough and tumble of a T20 innings even the most part-time of bowlers might hope to pick up the odd cheap wicket. But not here; indeed none of the five bowlers employed managed to snaffle more than a single wicket. Great credit is due to Dar and Aliya Riaz for nearly doubling the score from 73-4.
It would be fascinating to know what Lewis really thinks about that. What he says in public may not chime with what he mumbles to himself in his sleep. But England’s inability to deal with the limited skills of the Pakistani middle order says as much about English deficiences as about stout Pakistan defiance.
Scores:
England: 176
Pakistan: 142-4
England won by 34 runs to take the series 3-0
