by The Professor » Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:06 am
On this day in 2015 England seize Super Over victory over Pakistan.
England came back from the brink when they found themselves 86-6, however they were saved by a stand of 60 between debutant opener James Vince and Chris Woakes. Vince proved himself an odd opener batting at an almost leisurely pace for a T20 batsmen. His experience of opening the batting was reinvented when his mere senior partner, Jason Roy, was dismissed for nought by debutant Aamer Yamin. Joe Root then helped to guide Vince through the experience but was gone after a 22 ball 32. Eoin Morgan also came in and batted below par before getting out. It was only Woakes that helped Vince and England.
Shahid Afridi was the most impressive bowler for Pakistan with the wickets of Joe Root and Moeen Ali under his belt.
In the chase, Pakistan also started poorly and were stranded on 11-3 after just 14 balls. It was Shoaib Malik who, almost singlehandedly, turned the tide with a stand of 75. He was accompanied by a number of cameos - most notably a 29 in 28 balls from Afridi.
And so to the Super Over. Chris Jordan was entrusted with the bowling duties and limited Afridi and Umar Akmal to a meagre three runs. In return Afridi then bowled to Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler who just scraped over the line, despite a near Buttler run out.
"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."