Explosive Salt makes light work of chase as Bethell begins captaincy with convincing win

Phil Salt has continued his exceptional run of form with a blistering 89 off 46 balls, falling 11 runs short of his fifth international T20 hundred. Had he managed to reach his century, the English opener would’ve joined Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell in sharing the top spot for most T20I centuries. When asked how aware he was of this after the game, the opener selflessly replied, “It didn’t cross my mind to be honest. I just wanted to win the game, and we did, so I’m pretty happy with that”.

Rinse and Repeat

Any concerns that Ireland were ahead of the game at the halfway stage, having posted 196-3, were quickly put to rest by the inevitably destructive opening partnership of Salt and Jos Butler, bringing up their 50 stand after just 18 balls. Butler looked as if he were facing knee-high throw downs, smashing Graham Hume for 22 in the third over of the innings, and reaching 28 from 10 deliveries, before holing out to Curtis Campher at deep midwicket, leaving England comfortably in the ascendancy at 74-1. The debuting captain, Jacob Bethell, joined Salt out in the middle, reaching 84-1 by the end of the powerplay. Bethell (24 off 16) looked at ease, with three boundaries and one maximum, before tamely chipping a Harry Tector length ball to cover.

In a similar vein to last week’s massacre at Old Trafford, Salt found yet another gear at the departure of Butler, punishing the good deliveries and the bad (of which there were many).

Four sixes and ten fours saw Salt finish with a strike rate of 193, ending Ireland’s hopes of repeating their heroic win at the MCG at the 2022 World Cup. The pull shot appeared to be the most productive shot for Salt, scoring 33 runs (including 4 fours and 2 sixes) between midwicket and square leg.

The recently recalled Sam Curran joined in on the fun after a cautious start, clearing the boundary rope (as well as the stands on a couple of occasions) three times on his way to 27 off 15. Rehan Ahmed and Tom Banton struggled to find their rhythm, as Jamie Overton finished the game with a straight-drive four – 14 balls still remaining from their allocated 120.

A day to forget for the Irish bowlers – these three felt it the most…

M Humphreys: 4 overs, 44 runs, 2 wickets – ECON 11

B McCarthy: 3.4 overs, 43 runs, 0 wickets – ECON 11.72

G Hume: 2 overs, 36 runs, 2 wickets – ECON 18

English bowlers off the pace

England’s bowlers disappointed today, allowing an exceptionally undercooked batting lineup to almost reach the 200 mark. Yes, the intimacy of the Malahide cricket ground is a result of small boundaries, and yes, the wicket was a belter (surprisingly for mid-September in Ireland), but conceding 196 runs against a team that hasn’t played cricket in almost four months is not a great look.

Six out of a possible eight bowlers were used, with all of them going for around 10 an over – Sam Curran ‘top-scoring’ with no wickets for 43 runs from his set of four. What was most troubling was the astonishing number of full-tosses bowled. Nine deliveries failed to land on the pitch, gifting the Irish batters a further 29 runs. Even Adil Rashid was off his mark, ending with 36 for 1 from his four, having been swept and reverse-swept mercilessly by Harry Tector.

Tector combined with the Irish wicketkeeper, Lorcan Tucker, to put on an entertaining 123-run partnership off just 68 balls – taking the final 10 overs of the innings for 112 runs, having been given a solid base to fire from after an assured 57-run partnership between the two openers, Paul Stirling and Ross Adair. Tucker, who had an LBW decision against Rashid overturned on 20, brought up his 50 with a maximum, only to be dismissed the next delivery, swiping at a short ball from Jamie Overton, giving his counterpart Butler a comfortable catch behind the stumps.

Luke Wood, returning at the backend of the innings, missed his usually reliable yorker-length, bowling too short, and going for 15 off his last over of the game, whilst the penultimate over of the innings was dispatched for 18 against the medium-pace of Curran.

Gearing up for the T20 World Cup

Unsurprisingly, due to the approaching T20 World Cup in the subcontinent, the bowling lineup contained only two frontline seamers, Wood and Overton, with Curran playing an all-round role. It’s clear that Brendon McCullum and co. have evidently decided to be consistent with just two seamers in the buildup to the competition – to be played in India and Sri Lanka – having employed the same structure in the recent South Africa series. Five spin options were available: Adil Rashid, Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed, Will Jacks, and Jacob Bethell, with the latter two not having to bowl. With Ahmed bowling just the one over (nine for none), we have not learned much in that department.

Bethell’s captaincy in the field was fine, rightly leaning on the experience of Butler and Rashid, but it has to be said that he was let down by his bowlers.

Nonetheless, a winning start for the 21-year-old captain, who will look to make it two from two on Friday, back here at Malahide. Make sure you join Guerilla Cricket for that here.