England vs SA: Talking Points

When a team scores a total of 229, and the target gets chased successfully, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking it’s a fifty over affair. But that’s exactly what happened when England took on South Africa at the Wankhede in the World T20. The has left the statisticians and analysts scratching their heads and all those who watched it, in awe.

Here’s a look at the few talking points about this game.

1. South Africa – The Perennial Chokers

People say some things never change and such was the case in today’s game as SA again did what they do so good – snatch defeat from jaws of victory. Despite having the match in their pocket after the first half and having one of the best sides on paper they let go such a massive advantage and did a meek surrender. They somehow themselves gifted the match to the Englishmen as can been in the amount of extras in the form of wides they conceded(26 extras including 20 wides). Also Steyn was way off the radar today and only Tahir looked in some sort of rhythm. All in all it was an ordinary bowling effort by the Proteas after such an extra ordinary batting effort.

1. England’s morale booster

England would have been terribly low on spirits after Gayle’s onslaught the other night which had left them hapless and with a lot to think about but today’s victory would have given them a world of confidence and self belief. While their confidence may have taken more of a hit after South Africa’s batting performance, they came back strongly and such a show of character will only help them with a majority of the tournament still left to play. Jason Roy and Alex Hales got their team off to a great start to kick off the comeback before Joe Root’s magnificent knock saw the English through.  They now face Afghanistan in their next game and would be confident of beating any opposition on their day.

1. Magnificent Root

Root showed that a certain amount of composure and class are essential ingredients in tense battles and not just brute force. His innings was showcase of glorious stroke play coupled with some cautious and sensible batting. Amla also played on similar lines for the opposition after De Kock’s blitzkrieg innings. Root’s timing was immaculate and his balance was perfect. His innings of 83 came off just 44 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes.

4. A word of caution for the English team

The England team might be over the moon after such a thrilling win but they must not get complacent. Still there are many things that they need to work on. Firstly their bowling in both the matches has been below par and they have been hammered all around the park. They need to bowl intelligently and also secondly their fielding has to be better. Entering such a tournament, these things can make a lot of difference.

1.     Solid Foundation

Spare a thought for a splendid effort by Jason Roy whose flamboyant knock of 43 of 16 balls gave England a chance in the game . He along with Hales led the onslaught for the very pillars of England’s innings against the South African bowling lineup of Steyn andRabada. They didn’t put their guard  down and without any second thoughts carried on with the task.