The summer of cricket 2020

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A very strong position for England with runs on the board and a series lead in hand.

Pakistan going to have to produce something special from here to rescue the series

Excellent start from Pakistan. England should be two down as Banton was dropped in the slips.

Shaheen’s litte wrist flick as he releases the ball is glorious. Textbook on how to generate that extra pace that all the quickest bowlers have.

Good powerplay from Pakistan, mostly tight bowling with excellent variations, though with a potentially costly drop of Banton. Looking at the two teams, it should be a close contest through the series - Pakistan have the stronger bowling unit, but England have the better batters.

Think 150 will be a good score here. Big boundaries, slow outfield, generally good bowling conditions.

JDizzle wrote:Shaheen’s litte wrist flick as he releases the ball is glorious. Textbook on how to generate that extra pace that all the quickest bowlers have.

He's a brilliant bowler. There's something intrinsically fun about watching left arm quicks like Shaheen.

Amir and Shaheen were excellent in that power play.

Yep. They were too good for Banton and Malan in that PP. 140/150 already looking like it might be a good score for England to get to!

Not a wicket for the floatier bowlers, as the leggie has gone for three sixes. Imad and the seamers driving the ball into the wicket is the way to go!

Oh dear that's a complete mix up.

Banton is looking really good now but that wicket might check England.

If Morgan and Banton can bat a few overs together with their respective strike rates then England should be in a competitive place.

Looks like it was a costly drop of Banton as he brings up a half century. Four sixes in total, not bad on this ground. Love his hand speed.

Duty281 wrote:Looks like it was a costly drop of Banton as he brings up a half century. Four sixes in total, not bad on this ground. Love his hand speed.

Long levers x hand speed. Dangerous combo.

Against this bowling attack, on this pitch Banton is showing how special he could be. Remarkable talent.

Ah, Banton done by the spin there. They didn't drop him a second time!

Very good innings of 71 which has given England an excellent platform.

Mature knock from him that - bogged down early, but waited for the right moment to attack. Given England a good platform here

Morgan gone too. Looked plumb live.

This partnership is really important for England now.

Banton's knock looking better and better as the wickets keep falling. Not a wicket that is easy to start on at all.

That flurry of wickets has turned the game in Pakistan's favour.

The rain might boost their chances further if England's innings is curtailed early.

The spinners dragging this back bodes well for England's attack with Rashid and Moeen so vital.

England will be wanting around 165-170 from here I reckon.

Think 170 is very optimistic! They lose Billings now and anything north of 150 becomes a challenge.

Gregory’s batting is nowhere near good enough to justify him being in the side as the 6th bowler over Livingstone

We'd have gone off long ago if this were a test match!

JDizzle wrote:Think 170 is very optimistic! They lose Billings now and anything north of 150 becomes a challenge.

Agreed with Gregory gone.

Tom Curran and Dilly should both be coming in ahead of Jordan in my opinion. Curran in particular has that Plunkett type striking power that can get you a vital 20 runs in short time.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Gregory’s batting is nowhere near good enough to justify him being in the side as the 6th bowler over Livingstone

Neither Gregory or Livingstone are good enough as T20 bowlers IMO. So pick your best batsman, which is Livingstone comfortably. If either has to bowl more than 1 fill in over you are in trouble.

JDizzle wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Gregory’s batting is nowhere near good enough to justify him being in the side as the 6th bowler over Livingstone

Neither Gregory or Livingstone are good enough as T20 bowlers IMO. So pick your best batsman, which is Livingstone comfortably. If either has to bowl more than 1 fill in over you are in trouble.

You’ve made my point more eloquently than I did JDizzle!

Surprised they’re not keener to get Livingstone involved. He’s done well in various franchise leagues around the world in that lower order hitter role, is a good fielder and can offer that one/two overs in a pinch. Would be worth a run in the side, as a potential player for the strongest XI if they’re going to have Jos open

131/6 in 16.1 overs. I think that's pretty decent from England in these conditions and on this ground. Obviously, Banton's contribution was the key one with no other England batsman getting away.

Should be a tough target for Pakistan if we get back out there, though DLS usually favours the chasing side.

Essex don't win the Blast last year if Livingstone doesn't bowl the 19th over of the QF. He turned 23 needed off 12 into 1 needed off 6! Terrible.

It is odd - can only presume it is as he is seen as an opener whereas Billings/Gregory are middle order players. But there is an article on CricViz somewhere about how the best players naturally gravitate to open in the Blast so you don't get death specialists anymore. Which makes sense. So just pick your 6 best bats.

"Summer"

Another hodge podge side for England which does make sense. At one time this wouldve been a key warm up for the world cup but now the likes of Banton do get the stage to make their case.

Problems with Englands midlow order continue, but then Buttler isn't there. And Mo still looks broken which really should be a big concern if they want to incorporate two distinctly different spinners. So I can see why the Livingstone hyoe train is building. Does seem he was more of a Whittaker man than one for the current regime but should get a chance in this series if the rain can hold off a bit

The rain wins. Still, it's dry for the next game.

Forecast good for Tuesday too thankfully. Looking ahead the weathers due to head back to proper sunshine for the Aus series too which is great news.

Squads wise I think they really need to start looking at plan B for spinners. Pity they didn't pick any options. Mo is garaunteed the opportunity to play his way back into form.

Rewinding a couple of weeks Stokes has given an update which clarifies a few things. He is in isolation in NZ and apparently his father's condition is brain cancer. No clear timeliness for his return, but its a given he will miss the rest of the season here and most likely the IPL too.

In the long run thats not a bad thing for Stokes' management. He was pushed too hard in winning that second test and his body paid the price. An extended break before what could be a bonkers winter / spring schedule and especially time out of the bubble is important. Just a shame it couldn't be in happier circumstances. Notable that the media has teated him much better this time around and that he seems firmly fixed into the role of national hero even if he is a kiwi.

Popes out for four months which does mean he should be available for India. How sharp and match fit he will be is another question. Takes out any chance he had of pressing a case as a multi format player but again maybe not a bad thing he gets to step off the treadmill and can focus on becoming a reliable test batsman. He has the talent and we have seen flashes of brilliance.

Hearing rumours the second t20 today might start on time . With the sun out

What's going on ?

Was rotten luck for Pope doing the shoulder again. He's had a funny old season...couple of really good innings in with a lot of early dismissals . To be fair he seemed to attract some pretty nasty deliveries !
Just hope he is able to come back well from the injury . (Have not forgotten the way his wretched injury seemed to derail Hameed just after he had made a very promising start to his international career ; though I am heartened to note he has shown a couple of signs that he just might be on his way back - fingers crossed.)
The timing with the winter tours might work out well. But too soon to know as recovery times can vary. If there is any doubt in January I'd be quite happy for him to wait until next home summer : he is going to be a long term player and no sense in taking any unnecessary chances.
But that's a long way off.

Yeah, got some good weather for a change. with the BBC showing their first live England cricket match since 1999.

England unchanged and bowling first.

And not bowling too well so far...

Pakistan collecting runs fairly easily as Morgan works the changes. Four bowlers used and none particularly impressive. Might be chasing a few today.

51/0 in the PP. All the talk about Babar Azam, but it's Fakhar Zaman who's done most of the damage so far.

England need a Rashid special, otherwise they might be chasing 180+.

Rashid showed the value of the wrist spinner in this format : didn't really seem at his best - a few pies , perhaps lucky not to have gone for quite a few more runs - but he's taken two wickets. And in fact the only bowler who has looked like taking any...

Apparently Morgan isn't going to trust Moeen with another over. Prefers Gregory to bowl his overs...possibly wise.

With Babar out , England might hope to restrain them a bit now : but it's going to take some really good death bowling to keep this under 190.

The way the other bowlers have been knocked around it might have been worth giving Malan an over.
Couldn't have done much worse.

Nightmare over for Tom Curran...

Going to be 200 !

Top knock from Hafeez

So kept the under 200- just . But 195/4 is an imposing total.

Very rusty looking bowling effort from England. Hope the batters are a bit better grooved...it is a good pitch to bat on ; but Pakistan will fancy defending this.

195/4.

Rashid apart perhaps, England are still lacking top-quality T20 bowlers. Lewis Gregory certainly isn't the answer. But they have the batting to bail them out of most situations, like in South Africa where they chased 226, so maybe this one isn't quite lost, though Pakistan have some excellent bowlers in this format.

Well they are missing a bowler or two...but still I'd normally have expected better from this group. Think the tactics were a bit off too : not keen on the idea of Moeen bowling with the new ball ; and you wouldn't say they exactly attacked to try and get any wickets early on...
Rather allowed Pakistan to work up the gears without much pressure.

And it seems the art of bowling a Yorker has just about died out.

If they chase this down it'll be quite an achievement : as you say , Duty , Pakistan have some handy bowlers for this format.

Bairstow looking good

Duty281 wrote:

Rashid apart perhaps, England are still lacking top-quality T20 bowlers. Lewis Gregory certainly isn't the answer. But they have the batting to bail them out of most situations, like in South Africa where they chased 226, so maybe this one isn't quite lost, though Pakistan have some excellent bowlers in this format.

They arent playing Stokes, Archer , Wood or Wiley tbf. The only thing they are really missing is the second spinner with Mo struggling for confidence again.
I wasn't a massive Jordan fan but hes generally been good late in his career in this format as a specialist.

Aside from some second string bowlers playing the issue here seems to have been a specific plan based on the ground dimensions which Pakistan quickly worked out and played cross bat shots to. Maybe the team shouldve adapted faster to plan B when Pakistan showed they had a method to score off it

...and Amir who is a good bowler 19 off his first 7 in the same way Pakistan scored off England bowling similar deliveries.

Amir doesn't look like finishing his spell...in a lot of discomfort with the hammy...surprised he's managed to finish his second over.

Lively start for England after the first over. 65/0 in the power play is about as good as they'd have hoped for.

But they will need to keep motoring.

Superb start from these two. Bairstow batting excellently, Banton played an outrageous reverse shot, and the running from both has been good.

Looks like Amir is out of the game now...or continuing? Yes, continuing.

But how it changes...both of them out to the spinner in two balls...

Flying start : but now two new bats will need to get stuck in.

Needed one of them to go on I think. Advantage Pakistan again...

Oh, it turns very quickly, indeed.

Three down now, I think...Pakistan reviewing. No, umpire's call goes England's way this time.

Duty281 wrote:Oh, it turns very quickly, indeed.

Three down now, I think...Pakistan reviewing. No, umpire's call goes England's way this time.

Close , that one ! I thought he was gone for a moment.

Think this is much better suited to spinners than pace men. England missed out only having Rashid - and the untrusted Moeen.

Going to be tough work from here unless Morgan has one of his big days. At least he's away with a nice six...

Does highlight the second apinner issue for england a bit seeing how much these two have (turned) the game.

Still ahead of where pkaistan were

Big over off Iftikhar, then. Getting England back in front.

Morgan in brutal form.

Useful 18 run over then...Morgan seeing it well. Need a couple more big overs still ; but these two are swinging it back England's way.

Who'd be a bowler in t20 ? Really is a batsman's game with the rules tweaked to suit them...

Amir warming up on the sidelines ? The way he was getting smashed around you'd think he'd have had enough

130/2 .need 66 off 7.