Sinking feeling
England suffer in India again
As Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow smote 135 in a little over an hour’s scintillating hitting, England’s chase of 318 seemed to be a breeze. Indeed it was – only for India, as the opening stand gave way to England losing all 10 wickets for only 116 runs.
And so, as in Aesop’s Fables, the tortoise defeated the hare. While Roy and Bairstow added 135 from only 14.2 overs, India had needed all of 28 overs to reach the same total.
But while the belligerence of Roy and Bairstow – whose straight drives yielded 22 in a single over from the debutant Prasidh Krishna – was the antithesis of India’s openers, the difference in what followed was even more striking. Where India gave themselves a base to add 112 in the last 10 overs, powered by Krunal Pandya’s effervescent debut knock, by this point in their own innings England were almost done.
During their long years of ineptitude in one-day internationals, England were often accused of being one-paced. In a different way, the same seemed true in Pune. A cocktail of a required rate that had fallen to well under a run a ball, India’s comparatively weak bowling attack – with Hardik Pandya seemingly unable to bowl – and the dew all lent themselves to England adopting a low-risk approach in the middle overs. Instead, as Ben Stokes and Sam Billings chipped tamely to the covers, Bairstow picked out midwicket and Eoin Morgan top-edged a pull, England succumbed to the same inflexibility that almost derailed their World Cup campaign.
Ordinarily, it is a situation that would be tailor-made for Joe Root, the batting order’s designated driver. But with Root resting at home, the middle order struggled to replicate his breezy accumulation. The shame is that, as late as Sam
Curran’s dismissal – the eighth wicket, at the start of the 39th over – England needed only a smidgen over six an over. Seldom is a chasing side as unperturbed by the asking rate beaten so compressively as England’s 66-run margin of defeat.
The magnitude of the change in culture, and results, in England’s limited-overs cricket since 2015 makes any criticism of their batting approach seem churlish. But for such an experienced line-up – of the top seven only Billings, 30 this summer, has fewer than 80 ODI caps – the manner of defeat was tame.
If Morgan was predictably defiant upon the wisdom of England’s approach – “This is the way we play and this is the way we will continue to play,” he declared – a more clinical middle order would have authored a very different outcome.
The Indian method is to make haste slowly: eschew risk for as long as possible, manoeuvring themselves into a position of control –
Big-hitters: Jonny Bairstow on his way to 94; (inset) an emotional Krunal Pandya with his brother, Hardik, after making 58
provided here by Shikhar Dhawan’s 98 and Virat Kohli’s 56 – before the final flourish.
With India’s leading spinners either rested, unfit or unavailable – Krunal and Kuldeep Yadav, pulverised by Bairstow for erring in length, returned combined figures of one for 127 from 19 overs – the chase hinged on how England played India’s seamers. While Bairstow played with a swagger befitting a man who is probably England’s best-ever ODI opener, advancing from six to 94 in 48 balls, the batsmen who followed were stymied by India’s intelligent use of cutters. Krishna responded to his mauling to take four wickets; Shardul Thakur snared Morgan and Buttler – the latter lbw to a delivery that jagged back – within four balls; and Bhuvneshwar Kumar was parsimonious and probing.
It amounted to another showcase of India’s depth; only Kumar would make their first-choice ODI attack. Kohli hailed it as one of his most satisfying victories. While Dhawan made 98, Kohli could particularly thank Krunal. After receiving his ODI cap from Hardik, his younger brother, Krunal waltzed to a 26-ball half-century, the fastest on debut. He paid tribute to his father, who died a month ago.
England’s end-of-innings struggles with the ball were of little surprise, given the absence of the injured Jofra Archer and the rested Chris Woakes, their first-choice ODI quicks. As in Twenty20 cricket, Wood is less suited to the death than bowling earlier; his final two overs leaked 34 to Krunal and KL Rahul.
The upshot was that England’s poor recent ODI record continued. Since lifting the World Cup they have won four ODIS while losing five and have won just three of their seven games in the ODI Super League, which determines automatic World Cup qualification. England have only 28 ODIS scheduled before the 2023 World Cup.
Given their priorities in the meantime, their World Cup defence will test every iota of English cricket’s depth.