ENG vs BAN | Takeaways - Understanding Moeen Ali’s exclusion and England’s pace invention
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England returned to winning ways by getting the better of Bangladesh - a team that had beaten them twice in the last two World Cups - and this time, Jason Roy donned the aggressor role. Moeen Ali’s exclusion was a big talking point on Twitter but England showed that they could easily justify it.
Moeen Ali’s exclusion - a decision based on conditions, and not by performance
When Eoin Morgan announced at the toss that they had brought in Liam Plunkett for Moeen Ali, it came as a shock for many, considering the kind of form that the all-rounder was in. His 3/50 against Pakistan was the kind of bowling that you need on a batting paradise, and his batting is also perfectly suited to English tracks. However, was his exclusion actually surprising or a decision forced due to circumstances?
The boundary at the Sophia Gardens is not like the one in Southampton and the short boundary goes against spinners’ selection more often than not. In the 2017 Champions Trophy game against New Zealand in Cardiff, Moeen didn’t bowl at all and before that, against Pakistan in 2016, England had played Liam Dawson as their only spinner. It is not a mere case of coincidence but rather a peculiar horses-for-courses policy that England, more than any other team, are obsessed with.
The logical reason for the same could be attributed to the need of an extra pacer in the team given an off-spinner becomes redundant thanks to the shorter straight boundary. It couldn’t have been Adil Rashid, not only because he was a better spinner but also for the fact that it will be easier for Morgan to set a field for a leg-spinner due to the square boundaries and a leg-spinner is more likely to be hit in the zone between extra cover or cow corner. Moeen is prone to give more runs on the straighter boundaries due to the inward angle he brings due to his dexterous bowling.
Mortaza has a big heart but his reading abilities seem to have diminished
Mashrafe Mortaza’s hand in transforming Bangladesh cricket from the point of uncertainty to a team of spectacular talents can never be underestimated. When the chips were down in Bangladesh cricket, he shone brightest despite cramped legs, hamstring injuries, and all sorts of pain that are the occupational hazards of being a pace bowler. However, does he actually operate in the modern-day dictum of captaincy? Let’s take a look at both sides.
The England batting line-up is full of batting beasts but apart from Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes, there are very few Southpaws in the batting line up. Mortaza was so obsessed with the left-vs-off-spinner match-up that he didn’t bring Mosaddek Hossain till the 36th over - exactly until the point Morgan came to the crease. He continued with Shakib Al Hasan from one end and used his pacers. This was surprising because the match-up in ODIs has never been as important as it is in T20s and the ODIs still hold the age-old values of patience ingrained in it.
If that was not an intelligent move, in Mortaza’s case, the inspirational skipper actually did a lot of leg-work by himself. In his second spell, he went around the wicket and had to be content by bowling against the wind. That resulted in the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow but Mortaza’s leadership left a lot to be desired, especially because he was clueless at many moments in the game.
Pace - a subtle but most important criterion this World Cup
Ahead of the World Cup, one of the major concerns that the team had was their pace bowling unit and it was a genuine case of worry. They had pacers of varied skills in the form of Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, and David Willey but they lacked that X-factor in the team which could provide a safety blanket to the team in case of dire need. In came Jofra Archer - a man touted for big things for a couple of years now - and Mark Wood, who had recovered from injury, to provide that pacy substance to the team.
And now, just think how good have they become and let’s go no further than today’s game to have a look at how things have changed for England. As per the data incurred through Cricviz, over 90% of Archer’s deliveries were above 140kph and astonishingly his slowest in the first spell was 138kph. Perhaps more surprisingly, Archer’s average speed of 145 kph in the first spell was the fastest spell by an English pacer in the last four World Cups - a time when ICC started recoding bowling speeds. Not least, when Wood unleashed a delivery of 153kph, he became the fastest bowler this World Cup before being overtaken by Archer.
Well, the numbers may continue and have a bite at everything but the impact was no less valuable. Consider Soumya Sarkar’s wicket for instance. Archer’s 153kph delivery kissed the top of off-stumps before catching the ropes on the full which just goes on to show how intimidating he can become. That, too, caught the Bangladesh innings off guard and they were left with no choice but playing rash shots on the pull. Think, if they could do that in Cardiff, what effect the pacers will have in the other pace-friendly wickets.
