Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Mott seeks reaction after latest T20 loss
ENGLAND head coach Matthew Mott wants a response from his side after they were left with a mountain to climb in the T20 series against the West Indies in Grenada.
Sam Curran made amends after being thumped for 30 in an over, hit for four sixes and a four by Windies captain Rovman Powell, with 50 off 32 balls, having been elevated to number four in the batting order.
While there were several cameos, Curran lacked support as England fell 10 runs short of overhauling their opponents’ 176 for seven on Thursday to fall 2-0 down in the five-match series after losing the ODIs 2-1.
The tourists struggled against leftarm spinners Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein, who leaked a combined 33 in eight overs. Motie was especially successful, taking 4-0-9-1 on a tricky pitch to bat on.
“No one likes losing,” said Mott. “We played good cricket again for 90 per cent of the match. We had them under control up to the 15th-over mark and unfortunately, as West Indies can do, they hurt us.
“We fought back at the back end to keep them to 176 which was definitely chase-able. It’s light and shade with our batting, there’s some really good things happening but probably just too many dot balls.
“We have to respond from this. We will try to come up with more solutions. We are trying hard, we are close. We are a couple of good hits away from a win.
“The message in the changing room is that we are not far away. We just have to stay the course. We’ve got to win one first. That’s our first target.”
Curran averaged 11 from 26 previous T20 innings, albeit having only once before batted in the top five, but he has three Test fifties and sparkled with an unbeaten 95 in an ODI against India in 2021.
It was still a surprise to see him stride out after Phil Salt was England’s second batter dismissed, with Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook and Moeen Ali each nudged down one position.
Curran, though, was the pick of the batters and uncorked seven boundaries - including three sixes and Mott revealed his promotion was down to how they thought he would fare against Hosein and Motie.
“He didn’t seem to get a heap of strike, it’s funny how it works out and he ended up taking down the medium-pacers,” said Mott, who added it was a “50-50 call” about whether to elevate Curran or Moeen. We just thought Sam was the one to try and really disrupt and get a free licence to go and go hard. He did it, not in the fashion we were expecting but he certainly did his job.
“We’ve always rated his batting and he’s been in some strong teams, as he showed. When he gets an opportunity, he’s a class player. He’s worked really hard on facing fast bowling.
“He’s got a great all-round game. We know he can hurt the spinners a lot but there’s certainly more layers to his batting which is exciting for the future. It was unfortunate he got out when he did.”
The Windies belted 13 sixes to England’s eight, with opener Brandon King and Powell sharing five apiece. King anchored the Windies innings with 82 off 52 balls and Powell registered 50 off 28.
Powell was on a run-a-ball 22 at the start of the 16th over having been kept quiet by Adil Rashid, who took 4-0-11-2, but followed up a streaky inside edge off Curran with some monstrous hits.
Jacqueline Williams, who became the first female umpire from the Caribbean to stand in a men’s T20 international, raised her arms skywards on four occasions before Powell ended the over by holing out.
“It definitely changed the game,” Powell reflected. “As a batter you sometimes look for that over.
“After being pegged down by the leg-spinners and then the pacer comes on, you think ‘maybe this is the opportunity to cash in’.”
India take control of Mumbai Test
ENGLAND face the possibility of losing their one-off women’s Test against India inside three days after enduring a desperate second day in Mumbai.
The tourists summoned just 136 all out in response to India’s first innings total of 428, and after deciding not to impose the follow-on, the hosts reached stumps with a commanding lead of 478.
Nineteen wickets fell in total, starting with the Indian tail-end as they managed to add just 18 to their imposing overnight total.
But England’s response began badly with both Sophia Dunkley and Heather Knight dismissed inside the first eight overs, with only Nat SciverBrunt showing any kind of resistance with a stand of 59.
Having limped to 79 for two, England collapsed, losing six wickets for 10 runs as Deepti Sharma led the Indian bowlers with figures of five for seven.
India opted to return to the field with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma sharing 61 for the first wicket, but four wickets for Charlie Dean, pictured below, gave England a glimmer of hope as the hosts closed on 186 for six.