SHIMRON HIT-MYER!
Rising star smashes ton to test England
Step aside Chris Gayle. the boss of We s t Indian batting now and for the next 10 years must surely be the gifted figure of Shimron Hetmyer.
there were glimpses of Hetmyer’s class when West Indies upset england in the test series and now he again showed why there are good judges here tipping him for greatness with a quite brilliant century in the second one- day international.
this was a proper display of modern white-ball batting from the 22-year- old Guyanese, who made an unbeaten 104 in West Indies’ 289 for six to register his fourth ODI century in only his 22nd game.
Hetmyer may have tested them but this was a much better day in the field for an england side who had appeared rusty in the first game before their batsmen showed the firepower that has propelled them to the top of the world rankings.
england rested Chris Woakes, their best white- ball bowler, whose knee injury remains a concern in World Cup year, but they were sharper with the ball and brilliant in pulling off two outstanding run outs.
Mark Wood excelled in Woakes’ absence, coming close to the speeds that saw him reach 95mph in the St Lucia test and conceding only 38 runs in his 10 overs while taking the wicket of Carlos Brathwaite.
Jason Roy and Adil Rashid, who had earlier bowled Gayle for 50 off 63 balls with a beauty, pulled off the direct hits that were reward for all the work england put in to try to make themselves the best fielding side in the world.
If Wood led the charge then this was a significant day for tom Curran, who is the bowler most under threat from Jofra Archer when england name their World Cup squad after this series on April 23.
Curran did not take a wicket and came in for some late punishment from Hetmyer but he held his nerve both with the new ball and at the death while continuing to work on new variations of his slower ball.
Another bowler who could come under scrutiny when Archer qualifies for england next month is Liam plunkett, who may be losing his nip at the wrong time and was entrusted by eoin Morgan with only seven overs here.
this Kensington Oval pitch was not quite the road that the first one represented on Wednesday and took spin but West Indies still looked some way short of par in not reaching the score of 300 that is so normal now.
But when Sheldon Cottrell claimed Jonny Bairstow for a golden duck and then forced Roy to chop on — celebrating both wickets with his trademark salute — West Indies were back in the contest.
Joe Root, who scored perhaps the best century of the three made in the first game, again looked in superb touch but when he fell to Oshane thomas england were facing a test of their renowned chasing skills. Morgan and Ben Stokes settled their nerves until the captain holed out to Cottrell for 70 — Hetmyer coming in to take the catch at deep square leg. eCB chairm a n Colin Graves, meanwhile, was yesterday forced into an embarrassing climbdown over his attempt to stop Surrey staging matches in next summer’s Hundred competition. Graves had been furious with Surrey’s opposition to the playing conditions for the governing body’s controversial new format and had threatened to take games away from the Oval even though it is one of england’s biggest and most successful venues.
But, even though Graves contacted county chairmen in an attempt to drum up support for his plan, his attempt to switch the matches from one of the eight stated venues for the new competition to Chelmsford or Bristol has been scuppered.
‘Graves has shown himself to be what he is - a petulant bully who must get his own way,’ said an insider. ‘A number of counties want him out now as he is in his last year anyway. eCB — explaining Colin’s Behaviour — has never been truer.’