England will head to the Caribbean on Friday to defend their T20 World Cup title with gusto after a powerful all-round performance proved too much for Pakistan at the Oval.
While the sight of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer sharing the new ball and reaching speeds of 90mph whetted the appetite, a pulsating opening stand of 82 – more than halfway to their target of 158 – in just 6.2 overs between Jos Buttler and Phil Salt complete the cake.
A seven-wicket win and a 2-0 series victory were supplemented by a Harry Brook upper-cut for six with 27 balls to spare. It was the kind of ruthlessness that will convince Buttler of good times ahead. The captain was back at work after his wife, Louise, gave birth to their third child – and first son – and was batting like he hadn’t had any sleepless nights before, making 39 off 21 balls. This was his 116th T20 cap, surpassing his predecessor Eoin Morgan’s England record.
On a night when the rain that blighted this series largely stayed away, Salt was equally destructive, hitting 45 off 24 balls before pulling Haris Rauf to deep midwicket to give a large Pakistani contingent at a packed Oval a rare moment of to bring comfort.
By then their side looked half-beaten, with Naseem Shah’s fifth over of the innings disappearing for 25 and wicketkeeper Azam Khan taking two catches. The second, to save Will Jacks from Rauf, was particularly unfortunate and made worse when Azam was knocked over and flung the ball away in frustration.
Opening batters Phil Salt and Jos Buttler helped England to a stunning win over Pakistan
Captain Buttler was back after his wife gave birth to their third child, and made 39 off 21 balls
Pakistan started their over well but soon fell apart and eventually finished at 157 all out
Rauf, comfortably the best of his side’s bowlers, hit back by yoking Jacks for 20, briefly suggesting a late twist. But Jonny Bairstow hit two sixes in two balls off leg-spinner Shadab Khan in the next over, and the rest was a formality.
England’s smooth chase followed a clockwork performance from their bowlers on an oval surface, lively enough to convince Buttler to bowl after winning the toss. Wood insisted before the match that there was room on the same side for both him and Archer, and on this evidence it seemed madness to suggest otherwise.
Injuries of one kind or another made this only the third time in three years that the country’s two fastest bowlers had teamed up, although there is less chatter these days about who is more adept at rattling the speedgun. The semi-serious machismo of five years ago has given way to a pragmatic acceptance that the main goal is simply to stay fit.
Yet Wood hit a top speed of 93mph in the first over of the game, and Archer responded by hitting 93mph in the second. Veteran Pakistan openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam coped well with the early barrage until – from the last delivery of the six-over powerplay – Babar Archer poked at Adil Rashid at short third man to make it 59 for one.
As Pakistan’s innings went into freefall, Wood returned to bounce Azam out for a five-ball duck, and later went short again to remove tailender Naseem.
Archer, meanwhile, deserved better than the figures of one for 31, although his analysis will not cause him any problems as England head to the Caribbean. His two appearances in this series have underlined his importance to an attack that lacked his silky venom during the 50-over World Cup in India.
The spinners were equally impressive during a Pakistan collapse of 10 for 98 in 14 overs in which – when the openers departed – only No. 3 Usman Khan threatened to upset England’s balance.
Rashid is the top-ranked T20 bowler in the world for good reason, and showed his class on a humid evening that might have inconvenienced lesser spinners. He slipped his fourth ball through Rizwan’s defense and then flicked Shadab through his thigh with his eighth. Even when Naseem launched his final ball over long-on for six, Rashid’s four overs cost just 27.
The pressure was kept up by Liam Livingstone, who produced the T20 rarity of a double-wicket maiden. Usman was brilliantly caught by the tumbling Chris Jordan at long range, before Shaheen Shah Afridi missed an ugly sweep.
Pakistan were under pressure from England before Shaheen Shah Afridi missed an ugly sweep
Rashid, the world’s top-ranked T20 bowler, showed his class on a humid evening at The Oval
England’s attack will arrive in Barbados for the World Cup in a confident mood after a 2-0 win
As Moeen Ali took the wicket of the dangerous Fakhar Zaman, England bowled like a team that knew they had all the bases covered. Despite losing half of this four-match series to rain, their attack will arrive in Barbados on Friday in a confident mood.
Where this leaves Sam Curran – player of the tournament when England lifted the trophy in Melbourne at the end of 2022 – is unclear, especially with Reece Topley ahead of him in the pecking order.
But Tuesday’s match against Scotland in Bridgetown will be the first of nine in less than four weeks if England go all the way, and Wood, Archer and Topley are all injury-prone. There is certainly rest and rotation ahead.
Stuart Broad, now a Sky pundit, warned before the match that the rain-splashed series would have robbed England of ‘mental sharpness’. In any case, it appears that their focus has sharpened.