Will power sees England through at T20 World Cup

KOLKATA: England quite expectedly scampered into the T20 World Cup Super Eights on Monday, but the seemingly comfortable 24-run win over Italy at the Eden Gardens could not hide the shortcomings that have plagued them in recent times.

They crossed the 200-run mark for the first time in the tournament (202 for 7), but that was made possible through some rearguard action by Will Jacks. The allrounder’s unbeaten 53, in just 22 balls, was in contrast to the struggles of the top-order batters. Jos Buttler and skipper Harry Brook again failed to get going. Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton all got starts, but failed to convert them into anything worthwhile. All this against an attack, which was at best club level.



Monday afternoon’s match against Italy (178) might have been smooth sailing, but it definitely was not the corner that Brook had wished they would turn.

Jacks came onto the crease at 105 for five in the 13th over, with statisticians starting to work on the Group C permutations in case England lost. His 54-run partnership with Sam Curran settled the nerves. And then with Jamie Overton’s support, he made England’s score look daunting enough. Against better bowling attacks, the English batters’ struggles could be further exposed and a saviour like Banton (as against Scotland) or Jacks (as against Italy) might not always be forthcoming. The English bowling attack too was not all that consistent, with pace spearhead Jofra Archer the best example of that. A fiery first over saw him pick up two wickets, giving away just one run. However, by the end of his first spell of three overs, he had conceded 22 runs. Spinners Jacks and Adil Rashid were quite costly.

Ben Manenti (60, 25b, 4x4, 6x6) and Justin Mosca (43, 33b, 7x4), with their Australian upbringing, had some harsh lessons for the English bowlers during their 92-run fourth-wicket stand, aided by some helpful deliveries. Manenti’s dismissal ended whatever resistance they were putting up, although an entertaining 22-ball 45 by Grant Stewart kept the crowd in the stands roaring.

To their credit, the Italians were not over-awed while playing against a full-member nation for the first time in this World Cup. Another one, the West Indies, loom on Thursday.

Brief scores: England 202-7 in 20 overs (Will Jacks 53*, Tom Banton 30; Crishan Kalugamage 2-41, Grant Stewart 2-51) beat Italy 178 all out in 20 overs (Ben Manenti 60, Grant Stewart 45; Jamie Overton 3-18, Sam Curran 3-22) by 24 runs.


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