Good stuff from us, a well paced innings from Jos at the top and another contribution from Malan.England are certainly going to have some headaches when Roy and Stokes are back.I said Bairstow needs a score today he def needs one in the last game now.
The way we've won these two games makes me more disappointed there won't be a World Cup this year, we have a barrage of riches in terms of a team that can compete and we seem to have a really good momentum right now. Not sure many teams would be able to get much out of the Powerplay with Jofra and Wood at full pelt like they were today
I think he's probably safe for a while yet - three low scores on the bounce but one was a nut from Afridi and today was...unfortunate to say the least. That said, he may not like where he is asked to bat when Roy returns! I suspect our current thinking on strongest XI would see Roy and Stokes replace Banton and one of Ali, Curran and Jordan, most likely Jordan.
We're probably two players/roles short of our ideal team but, yeah, its not a bad set of riches. Ideally, we'd have someone who could play Buttler's finisher role, since I doubt he will be moved from the top of the order (I wonder if Bairstow may be earmarked) because we're a little bit top three heavy at the moment. And we need a second spinner - nothing against Ali, who can do a job at seven when Stokes is fit, but we're not often going to get 4 overs from him.
If Moeen Ali had to update his bowling status on FB, I bet it would be 'Its complicated'. Not sure how much he loves it himself. To me he is an accomplished spinner who has even bowled well in Test cricket. His bowling style is ideal for the shorter version too. KP referred to him as a part-time spinner which baffled me!
Seems to be that he’s there to bat and bowl to lefties in T20. Not sure any England player ever has had more roles/jobs.
Thats what i gathered from watching the Pakistan games. They had him bowl an over at Fakhar Zaman and then took him off and didn't bowl him again. I suppose if it works and you are winning games why not but i cant help but think without stokes playing as an all rounder as well Englands batting lineup is 1 batsman short since i dont really consider curran as an all rounder at the international level
That applies to Oz too really, Curran isn’t much worse than Agar with the bat.
I think both teams are a batsman short looking at their lineups, dont think agar or curran offer enough with the bat to be considered all rounders and re curran i dont particularly rate him with the ball either.
Can we bin Billings now? He's had more than enough chances