Malan’s feeling on top of world
DAWID HELPS ENGLAND TO No1
ENGLAND pummelled South Africa to complete a 3- 0 whitewash in the manner that befits the new No1 team in the world.
They already ady have the No1 o1 batsman and d yet again n Dawid Malan was at the heart of their r run chase with h 99 not out, ut, while Jos Buttler, ttler, right, arguably rguably England’s greatest ever whiteball batsman, stroked an unbeaten 67 in a nine- wicket win that sent them to the top.
Even though South Africa managed to take the attack to Jofra Archer for the first time and put up what looked like an imposing target of 192, the result put others on notice that this England team are going to be hard to shift no matter how many runs you score.
Malan and Buttler ravenously hunted down the target in a record 167- run partnership as if they were the lions on their England shirts and the total was a limping kudu at the back of the herd.
Ten times the pair connected with the ball hard enough to send it over the boundary and, with every strain of the neck watching the ball soar, the
South African heads fell a little lower.
By the time the two teams walked off the field with a whopping 14 balls to spare, the gulf between the sides was a chasm, especially with South Africa missing the injured Kagiso Rabada.
Whether he would have prevented England’s batsmen from feasting as they did is a moot point with the pitch getting better and better as the game wore on , and with Buttler and Malan in red hot form, even if the latter’s maths needs some work.
“I’m very happy with that,” said Malan. “I knew there was five left but I didn’t know how it would go down if I turned down the run to win the game.
“With 12 left I needed to hit two sixes, but when I hit the four and then the single I got it wrong. I need to go back to maths class.”
Buttler found his mojo after a slow start and admitted that both he and England still have more to achieve.
“It is fantastic for us to reach that status in the rankings and is a result of us playing good cricket,” he said. “But there are no limitations for this side, we still want to get better and we are trying to improve.”
Part of their improvement might include their use of data with analyst Nathan Leamon holding up some coded signs such as 4E and 2C as guides for skipper Eoin Morgan.
Buttler said: “Analysis has become a huge part of the game.
“Eoin is a fantastic captain and an instinctive captain. He works closely with Nathan and it is just an offering of help on some match- ups.
“There must still be an instinctive and intuitive side of the game but, if you can use that information for good, then great.”