Dubai, October 23, 2021 (PPI-OT):Much has been said about the power of England’s white-ball batting in recent years but it was the bowlers who came to the fore as West Indies were put to the sword in Dubai.
The pre-match debate centred around whether England would go batter or bowler-heavy with their selection and ultimately the decision was largely taken out of their hands, with Mark Wood and Tom Curran missing through minor knocks.
That meant extra bowling responsibilities for Moeen Ali, a task the all-rounder thrived upon.
Entrusted with four consecutive overs opening up, Ali more than repaid the faith of his captain Eoin Morgan and showed admirable character within his spell.
Hit for six by Evin Lewis at the end of his first over, Moeen responded with a superb catch on the run to see the back of the left-hander and then claimed the wicket of his opening partner Lendl Simmons.
Later, when Shimron Hetmyer managed to find gaps in the field for consecutive boundaries, back came Moeen once more, inducing a mis-timed pull which was comfortably taken by Morgan at mid-on.
In all, 18 of the 34-year-old’s 24 deliveries were dots and his sterling work was backed up by his fellow bowlers – not least Adil Rashid.
The pair’s effective dovetailing has been a central part of England’s white-ball renaissance under Morgan and Rashid was straight into the act here, clean bowling Andre Russell with a beauty before the powerful hitter had troubled the scorers and finishing with his country’s best ever T20I bowling figures – a barely-believable four for two.
But perhaps the most heart-warming tale came courtesy of Tymal Mills. Having been through injury hell since his last England appearance in February 2017 – Mills was in a back brace unable to run earlier this year – the left-arm seamer was ready to make up for lost time.
Jofra Archer’s bowling boots are big ones to fill but performances like this will see Mills become a more than able deputy for his county teammate and the roar which greeted his dismissal of Chris Gayle represented a release of four years of frustration.
A bowling unit are only as good as their fielders, of course, and England were largely faultless in that department.
Again it was Moeen setting the tone, sprinting back from mid-off to make a challenging catching opportunity off Lewis look simple, and Dawid Malan was equally composed under a skier to dismiss Gayle.
Malan, usually the batting anchor at number three, found his services not required as England shuffled the pack in their routine chase of 56 and having the MRF Tyres ICC World No.1 T20I batter carded at seven is the latest sign of the strength in depth at Morgan’s disposal.
That batting power will be far more severely tested as the tournament develops and, on the evidence of the wobble midway through the chase, would have been against West Indies had the target been in three figures.
But today was a day for England’s bowlers to take the plaudits and with speedster Wood waiting in the wings, Morgan will have some big decisions to make as his side navigate the remainder of their Group 1 fixtures.
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