Roy and bairstow were Glorious against India
I had a hunch that Jonny Bairstow would be desperate to play with a great innings against India at Edgbaston and that I was delighted to be shown directly by his match-winning ton. Jason Roy was brilliant also and is currently the heartbeat of the England team.
Roy played a cover drive in the second over and the sense of relief around the floor was palpable. I could feel fans thinking:”Yes, this is England again. This is the confidence and assurance we will need to win this game.”
Roy looked magnificent and it was hard to think he’d been out injured and just facing chunks in the nets for 2 weeks.I don’t mind admitting I had clammy palms when Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni were building a partnership. I would not have been surprised when they’d attained the run speed of 12 an over and when Pandya got I felt great relief.
I backed Chris Woakes to be our top wicket taker but was still pleased when Liam Plunkett eclipsed him. Pudsey is such a phlegmatic character but he trains so hard and it means so much to him. He was brilliant on his return to the team.
In general, I still think England’s success against South Africa was the most complete operation we’ve seen from them in this World Cup. However, the performance against India was quite good indeed. They rose to the pressure and flourished on the must-win scenario. Hopefully, that will be replicated against New Zealand on Wednesday.
England would love Edgbaston return
I can’t really explain England’s powerful recent document at Edgbaston (10 wins in a row in all formats). Maybe the wicket was put on for them on Sunday. Or perhaps it merely suited India less. I understand Virat Kohli known as the border”crazy brief” afterwards and said it suited the team batting first. But India had the opportunity to exploit it. Additionally, there are crazy short boundaries in India therefore that I don’t actually see Kohli’s point.
England could wind up playing India at Edgbaston again in the semi-final. They’d be very happy with this, as it’s great when you’ve got a floor you know you are playing nicely. The Evaluation teams I played in were always delighted to visit Trent Bridge since we had a strong listing there and always thought we would win.
Roy and Rashid can shine against Kiwis
I’m up in The Riverside Ground today (Monday) and, from taking a look at the wicket, I think Moeen Ali should come back in the side. This pitch is very slow and it’ll turn. It does not really match fast bowlers so I’d look to break one.
Mark Wood has discovered great rhythm, therefore I would not take him out. It may sound crazy but if I were picking the side, I’d rest Jofra Archer and deliver Moeen back. As I can’t be certain that’ll happen, I will back Adil Rashid to be our best wicket taker at 7/2, as I definitely believe that this is a spinner’s pitch.
In terms of top England run scorer, I’m going for Jason Roy at 3/1. There is a good deal of positivity about him and it was notable just how great he seemed coming back into the side on Sunday. For me, he’s the man for England now.
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