The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Hales the hero for England
A LEX HA LES was left to reflect on the most remarkable night of his cricket career after becoming the first England batsman to score a Twenty20 century.
Hales’ brutal 116 not out against Sri Lanka in Chittagong contained 11 fours and six sixes, the last of which confirmed England’s biggest ever successful chase and reinvigorated their World T20 campaign.
The Nottinghamshire man, who has previously been dismissed for 99 and 94, faced just 64 deliveries in his matchwinning turn and showed why he was ranked as the format’s No 1 batsman only a matter of weeks ago.
Failure to chase down Sri Lanka’s testing 189 for four would have left England facing near-certain elimination, but their dramatic six-wicket success leaves them with everything to play for.
“It’s definitely my best day for England, without a shadow of a doubt,” said the 25-year-old opener.
“It’s an amazing feeling and sunk in yet.
“Centuries in this format don’t come along very often and I’ve got out a couple of times in the 90s, so I was pleased to get over the line.
“I always had the confidence I would get the chance again and I’m buzzing it came in a winning side and in a huge fixture for our country.”
Hales hit the winning six off A ngelo Mathews, an almighty strike that almost cleared the stands on the leg-side.
He celebrated by striking a pose out of theA ndrew Flintoff play-book, arms raised aloft as he surveyed his achievement.
“It was a great feeling, especially in a game like that,” he said.
“He bowled the ball exactly where I wanted him to and I managed to get it over the ropes.”
Hales offered a calm assessment of England’s chase, sharing the plaudits with Eoin Morgan (57), his partner in a mammoth 152-run stand for the third wicket, and Ravi Bopara, who managed 11 not out in tense circumstances at the death.
“I started to believe we could do it with probably six or seven overs left,” he explained.
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“We needed about 12 an over so we always knew it would be a tough ask, but Morgy played brilliantly and then Ravi came in against the dangerman (Lasith Malinga) and hit his first two balls for four. “It was brilliant to see.” England captain Stuart Broad was quick to heap praise on Hales, labelling his innings as one of the best he has seen by a team-mate.
“That’s a very special knock, one of the best I’ve seen in an England shirt,” he told Sky Sports.
“To take the responsibility and have the run-rate that we had, to keep up with that all the way through, and then to win it with a few balls to spare is very special.
“It’s the best we’ve seen this winter in an England shirt because it was matchwinning.
“The calmness he showed to keep us up with the rate all the way through and the skill he showed to clear the ropes at the end.
“There’s been some very special knocks in the Test match stuff that I’ve been very lucky to witness but on the biggest stage in a world cup, in conditions that are a little bit foreign for us, it’s one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen.”
South A frica narrowly averted embarrassment at the World Twenty20 as they edged past Holland by six runs in a dramatic finish at Chittagong.
The Dutch, routed for a record low 39 all out against Sri Lanka on Monday, came out with a point to prove with A hsan Malik taking five for 19 to restrict the Proteas to a below-par 145 for nine.
A nd their batting initially fired too, a brutal half-century from Pretoria-born opener Stephan Myburgh instrumental in taking Holland to 114 for four in the 12th over.
That left them needing only 32 from 48 balls but Imran Tahir took two wickets in an over to shift the momentum, while Dale Steyn proved predictably hard to get away.
Holland, struck perhaps by an attack of nerves, kept losing wickets to unnecessarily rash shots and lost their final wicket to Beuran Hendricks with just seven runs needed to win and eight balls remaining.