England were batting first on Day 1 for the first time this summer and at Lord's the surface under the grey sky had enough juice to encourage the South African pacers who came out all guns blazing.
On a literal and figurative stormy day, with thunderbolts sent down from the four quicks of the Proteas, it was the 24-year-old Ollie Pope who weathered it out.
Surviving and thriving as the senior trio of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Ben Stokes together managed just 28.
Of the 69 deliveries that made up his first 51 runs, 32 percent drew false shots, according to CricViz, including a skew through gully when on 43 - a flavor of Bazball - but to be honest it is backfired.
Last year, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma shared stands of 83, 126, and 97 on last year's tour. Those starts set India up for totals of 466, 364, and 278, and they weren't beaten in any of those encounters.
This indicates that stitching a composed opening stand is very important in England, especially, if you're batting first and the Proteas openers followed the prescription with a stand of 85 that laid the foundation.
England took the left side of the road by investing more in Bazball that should be done when your foundation is solid rather than throwing the bat, entertaining like jokers of circus shows, and leaving your team in the middle of the ocean without a single crew to steer the ship.
The Englishmen came in. They wanted to have fun. Got dismissed. Smiled. Walked back towards the pavilion. Bazball was ending up with eggs on its face.
An innings defeat was inevitable.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
No comments:
Post a Comment