There can’t be a worse way to launch a title defense than this. West Indies, world champions, T20 Ninjas, were all out for 55 in 14.2 overs against the team they won the title at the Eden Gardens five years ago. if ever England Having gone into the game with revenge on his mind, it may have ended in the trade of sympathetic glances at his devastated opponents.
The memories of that lightning night in Kolkata seemed far-fetched, perhaps as distant, as those of the logic and the West Indies batsmen. It is inconceivable that if there is a slowdown in high-class bowling, the torture of body and soul the West Indian fast bowlers have repeatedly inflicted upon the English batsmen. But it was only a case of what might, at best, be called a mockery of the batting show, a case of contagion and collective brainfreeze. A manual on how not to bat in any format, at any level.
Evin Lewis misjudged Chris Woakes’ own chip and was skillfully pouched by a springing Moeen Ali; Lendl Simmons hits the ball well but straight to Liam Linvingston at deep midwicket. West Indies scored 2/9 in 2.2 overs.
The situation called for a knock and see through the storm. for a few overs, Chris Gayle And Shimron Hetmyer Took caution. but not for long. After hitting two brilliant boundaries off Ali and dead-batting the third, expressing false notions that the brightest of West Indies’ fresh crop batsmen, Hetmyer pulled a flat, sharp short ball straight to mid-wicket. He was so furious that he threw a slew of abuses.
Eight balls later, Tymal Mills pushed Gayle into a pull, the only instance in which a really good ball, though not a non-negotiable delivery, resulted in a wicket. More often than not, Gayle would have deposited the ball into the stands, but here, he underestimated Mill’s quick bounce and pace. He would have survived without loss thanks to the athleticism and awareness of David Malan back-pedaling at midwicket.
After that it was just a matter of silencing the West Indies batsmen. Ali was exemplary at the time, hitting 18 dot balls. Dwayne Bravo unusually moved up the order, cutting Chris Jordan’s delivery straight to the fielder at backward point. Nicholas Pooran had a wishy-washy swipe outside the off-stump, his leg was steady, and shoved the keeper to the side.
One of the heroes of the 2016 win, Andre Russell, knocked out his team at 44/6. Then he faced the first ball, tried to get it off the field. Leg-side to a left-arm seamer while bowling over the stumps and skewering the ball. His neck and crop were beaten. This unreasonable approach embodied the mess. He is next bowled by an Adil Rashid slider, which slips through his open gate. The England leggie picked up three more scalps to end his end, with hardly credible figures of 4/2, including the wicket of Kieron Pollard, the champions’ last glimmer hope. It was often the unfortunate case of Rashid to have two for the price of one. But, alas, the match will be remembered more for West Indies’ comical meltdown than for Rashid’s twinkling variations.
The end of the night was even more tragic for them, as England stumbled in their chase, being 39/4 at one stage, but the goal was too low to make a serious contest out of it.
.