ENGLAND ADD SALT TO WOUNDS
Opener Phil blasts half ton to give one England skipper an international trophy
IT’S coming home — Ben Stokes led England to their first sporting holy grail of the weekend, the Royal London Series trophy, at Lord’s.
Now it’s Harry Kane’s turn to lift another pot in the after-show party.
England’s 52-run win against Pakistan gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the one-day trilogy, and it was more comfortable than the margin suggests. Not bad for a ‘reserve’ team cobbled together in a hurry last week when Eoin Morgan’s World Cup winners were forced into wholesale quarantine by seven positive Covid tests in the camp.
Acting captain Stokes (right) said: “The way we came out and showed intent with the bat early on really set us up.
“The pleasing thing was the way inexperienced players came in and showed a positive mindset. We were just as clinical with the ball as well.
“There’s no better way in international cricket than putting your hand up and delivering under that sort of pressure.
“We’ve won the series already but there’s nothing better than continuing a winning streak – if anything we’ll come at them even harder in the next game.”
Make no mistake: These kids can play. Opener Phil Salt’s breezy halfcentury, another impressive new-ball spell from Saqib Mahmood (right), Lewis Gregory’s all-round contribution (including the wicket of Imam ul-haq with his first ball) and wicketkeeper John Simpson all caught the eye.
Pakistan may be more undercooked than steak tartare, and subsided to a second limp defeat in 48 hours, but take nothing away from the ruthlessness of England’s understudies.
If Kane and friends are as clinical as this against Italy at Wembley, we’ll all be topping our pizzas with a celebratory slither of pineapple tonight.
After a 90-minute delay to the start, because of at least a dozen raindrops around St John’s Wood, England’s 247 all out in a contest reduced to 47 overs a side proved more than adequate.
Five of the top six, including box-office darling Stokes, were clean bowled in their haste to entertain the first full house at Headquarters since the pandemic set in.
After Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley’s early ducks, they wasted Salt and James Vince’s enterprising thirdwicket stand of 97 in 13 overs. Salt’s maiden England half-century (60 off 54 balls) was sprinkled with 10 fours, and Vince hit eight boundaries in only his second one-day international fifty.
But in murky light, too many of their team-mates batted with undue care and attention.
Gregory and Brydon Carse, howeve,r were sensibly taking few risks, gave England a presentable total to defend as Hasan Ali’s figures of 5-51 earned him a place on the Lord’s dressing room honours box.
Hasan’s fourth five-wicket haul in ODI’S puts him in exalted company.
In the last five years only one only fast bowler, New Zealand’s Trent Boult, can match that record. Hasan said: “The conditions were suitable for the pacers, so the plan was very simple, we just wanted to bowl our best balls.”
Later, Hasan’s long handle – including three sixes in one over off Matt Parkinson – injected some fun into Pakistan’s forlorn run chase.
But the crowd were singing a refrain about the Royal London Series trophy coming home. Or something like that.