England’s Roy smashes 153, not counting umpire
It was a bounce-back victory for host nation after loss to Pakistan
CARDIFF, WALES— Jason Roy smashed an umpire to the ground and Bangladesh’s bowlers to all corners of Sophia Gardens in his 121-ball 153 to lead England to a tournament-high 386-6 at the Cricket World Cup on Saturday.
The explosive opening batsman posted his ninth century in one-day internationals and reached the milestone in bizarre fashion. Watching the ball dribble for four because of a misfield, Roy — jogging leisurely between the wickets — accidentally ran straight into unsuspecting West Indian umpire Joel Wilson.
A shaken Wilson took a while to get to his feet, as England’s players looked on from the balcony of the team’s dressing room with laughter and then in apparent concern. A doctor came onto the field to carry out a concussion test on Wilson, who was deemed OK to continue.
Roy carried on his assault on the Bangladesh attack, bringing up his 150 with three successive sixes — one going 97 metres, over the longest boundary — before attempting a fourth and miscuing Mehedi Hasan to cover. It was the second-highest World Cup score by an England batsman, falling just short of Andrew Strauss’ 158 against India in 2011, and the biggest so far at this tournament.
“He scores all the way round the ground, he takes really good bowlers down, and hits good balls for boundaries,” England captain Eoin Morgan said about Roy. “He’s great to have in the side.”
It was quite the way for England to bounce back from a loss against Pakistan that had heaped some early pressure on the host nation and top-ranked team. Morgan urged his players to “stick to what we do well” and they carried out that order.
England posted its highest total at a World Cup and blasted14 sixes, one of them from Jos Buttler (64 off 44 balls) clearing the stadium, going through the trees and landing somewhere near the River Taff running parallel to Sophia Gardens.
Then Jofra Archer (3-29) starred with the ball, firing down the fastest delivery of the World Cup at 95 m.p.h. and taking the first wicket with a ball that clipped off the bails and flew some 50 metres straight over the boundary rope.
“It was an improvement on the other day,” Morgan said, “right throughout the whole game, right from the start.” KIWIS UNBEATEN: A spirited Afghanistan lineup created trouble for the 2015 Cricket World Cup finalist at times on Somerset’s Country Ground but ultimately weren’t quite a match for New Zealand.
A seven-wicket victory gave New Zealand three wins from three games to start the tournament, and consigned Afghanistan to its third straight loss.
Compounding woes for cricket’s newest top-level team, star spinner Rashid Khan was hit on the helmet while he was batting and couldn’t contribute for an Afghan bowling attack trying to defend a small total.
For New Zealand it was the bowling depth that proved crucial, with change bowlers Jimmy Neesham (5-31) and Lockie Ferguson (4-37) reining in the Afghan innings after Hazrat Zazai (34) and Noor Ali Zadran (31) got away to a flyer.
The New Zealand chase was less dramatic, despite the firstball loss of Guptill to Aftab Alam’s first ball of the tournament.
Kane Williams led the way with an unbeaten 79, including an 89-run third-wicket partnership with ex-captain Ross Taylor (48) as New Zealand reached 173-3 in the 33rd over.