KERPLUNK THEM!
In-form Plunkett can inflict knockout blow on old foes Australia
The only blow he will strike this time, David Warner insists, will be psychological — but there is no doubt a more physical clash will be remembered when england take on Australia at edgbaston in a Champions Trophy rematch.
It was in a Birmingham bar four years ago that Warner punched a young Joe Root after Australia had suffered a 48-run Champions Trophy defeat, setting in motion a chain of events which ended with an emphatic england Ashes success that summer.
Relations were hardly helped two years ago when Warner blamed Root’s ‘inappropriate behaviour’ in fooling around with a fake beard for the incident and also took a swipe at england paceman Steven Finn, saying he saw him ‘sleeping in a gutter’.
Warner and Root reached something of a truce when they were photographed together at the end of the last Ashes, but the affair adds spice to Saturday’s latest Birmingham meeting of the old enemies.
england are in the delicious position of knowing they will top their group whatever happens, following victory over New Zealand. They can eliminate Australia with a repeat of their 2013 edgbaston victory.
Not that england can afford to relax because an Australia win would see them join the hosts in the last four and have the opportunity to come back to bite eoin Morgan’s team in a potential Oval final on June 18.
Then, of course, there is the edge that victory will bring with another Ashes series around the corner and a more mature Root at the helm of a Test team this winter who, for once, will be looking to emulate england’s white-ball success.
‘You look at their team and they bat all the way down to 11 and have great bowling,’ Warner told
All Out Cricket. ‘The psychological blow will be fantastic if we can get the upper hand because we know they’re a team to beat.’
england certainly looked the team to beat in Cardiff with the way they defeated a New Zealand side who inspired them at the last World Cup.
Central to that was their weakened attack — missing the injured Chris Woakes — after england’s batsmen had fallen 20 runs short of par when neither Root nor Alex hales could convert half centuries into three figures and Jos Buttler was left stranded on 61.
Not too long ago, coach Trevor Bayliss reckoned Liam Plunkett did not do enough with the ball to merit a regular place. But this old bowling dog has learnt new tricks at 32 and become an integral member of the attack.
It was Plunkett who emulated Stuart Broad’s ability to extract uneven bounce at Cardiff with cross-seam deliveries and showed he packs a punch, too, by hitting Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor on the helmet.
If Plunkett was the most successful bowler with four wickets, england will take even more satisfaction from Jake Ball’s performance after trusting him to take the new ball in Woakes’ absence.
england believe Ball could be a key figure in Australia this winter and want him to gain plenty of international experience before the biggest tour of all. But they could easily have lost their nerve when Ball was smashed for more than 80 runs in two of his last three oneday international appearances. he showed what he can do on a Cardiff pitch that might have become a little more difficult to bat on as the match progressed, but was not the minefield suggested by Williamson after he was dismissed by Mark Wood. Perhaps the abiding image of england’s second straight win was another glimpse of the extraordinary ability that makes Buttler the most exciting of all the vibrant talents in this side. The scoop for six off Trent Boult that sailed over the short River Taff end boundary, striking a television gantry in the process, was a stroke of genius from Buttler, who is returning to his best form at the perfect time after a quiet six months.
‘I’ve never hit a cameraman behind me before,’ said Buttler of the best example yet of his trademark shot.
‘The wind was quite helpful. I tried to utilise the weather and the short boundary and it’s nice when it comes off.’
Now england know the stakes are high in what is anything but a dead final group game for them before heading back to Wales for their semi-final next Wednesday.
‘Any england-Australia game is huge,’ said Buttler. ‘We want to win and keep our momentum going no matter who we are playing, but it’s nice to know we can send Australia home if we do it.’