Rampant Roy routs the Kiwis
EN GLAND, the laughing stock of the international game as recently as a year ago, are in the Final of the World Twenty20 after pulverising New Zealand on a heady night in Delhi.
A superb all-round display with the ball was followed by an effortlessly brilliant 78 from 44 deliveries by Jason Roy, who transformed England’s pursuit of 154 from a potential slip-up into a stroll around the Feroz Shah Kotla.
By the time Jos Buttler was finishing things off with his third six in four balls, England were celebrating victory by seven wickets, with 17 deliveries to spare. This was less of a win, more of a walloping.
New Zealand had come through their group unbeaten, playing the kind of canny Twenty20 cricket that, in these parts, can lead to a lifetime of idolatry and riches.
This, then, was an English statement made resoundingly for the benefit of either India or West Indies in Sunday’s Final at Kolkata.
‘It’s something we’re buzzing for and it’s going to be an incredible experience,’ said Roy.
‘It’s another game of cricket — it just happens to be at Eden Gardens in a World Cup Final in front of 100,000 people.’
Only a year after England were sent packing from the 50- over tournament with mockery ringing in their ears, they are pinching themselves at the near absurdity of it all.
Since the second semi-final takes place today in Mumbai, Eoin Morgan’s team will have a day more than their opponents to accustom themselves to the prospect.
But, for the moment, even their ice- cool captain was allowing himself a brief moment of fantasy. ‘It’s the kind of thing you dream about,’ he said.
Morgan made a first-ball duck, trapped in front by leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, as England stuttered briefly in their pursuit of New Zealand’s modest 154. It was the only duff note when just about everything else went right.
First, the bowlers dragged it back after Kane Williamson and Colin Munro had taken New Zealand to an imposing 89 for one at the halfway stage after being asked to bat.
Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali laid to rest their mauling here at the hands of Sri Lanka four days earlier with some tidy mid-innings overs, before the seamers got to work at the death.
From 133 for 3, New Zealand lost five wickets for 20 in the last four overs as Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes bowled with clever variation, unremitting accuracy — and a dose of luck, with Stokes finding himself on a hat-trick after collecting wickets with a pair of full-tosses.
Even so, Williamson — reflecting on New Zealand’s eighth semifinal defeat in nine World Cups — knew his side had been outfoxed. ‘England bowled really well in that death period, which made life difficult,’ he said. ‘We weren’t able to connect as well as we’d have liked.’
Roy took 16 off Corey Anderson’s first over, helping England past 50 in the fifth, and bringing up his maiden half-century at this level from only 26 balls.
The rest of the chase could be conducted at the kind of leisurely pace more associated with the middle portion of a one- day innings.
Roy was eventually beaten by Sodhi’s flipper and England’s heart may have skipped a beat when Morgan played all round his first delivery.
But, by that stage, England needed only 44 at a run a ball: Joe Root and Buttler took 22 off Sodhi’s final over, the 17th, before Buttler applied the coup de grace.
‘That was pretty special for me,’ said Roy. ‘I’m just hugely proud to be involved in this dressing room.’