TWO wins, two centuries for very special batsmen and a 2-0 series lead. For England, the past week has been pretty encouraging. For Pakistan, they are just unfortunate they have come up against a side who are approaching peak form just in time for the World Cup.
Eoin Morgan’s team did what we expected in Southampton and Bristol – hitting two 350-plus totals to take charge of this series.
Each victory was very different, with Jos Buttler’s magnificent unbeaten 110 setting up a nervy 12-run win at the Ageas Bowl and Jonny Bairstow’s brutal 128 from 93 balls helping England chase down 359 in Bristol with almost ridiculous ease.
Batting first, England are capable of scoring any total on flat pitches. But, as was the case in Southampton, their bowling attack is often vulnerable and can offer the tantalising prospect of an unlikely victory to opponents even if they are facing a mammoth chase.
It happened in Grenada back in February, when after another Buttler masterclass, this time he hit 150 from 77 balls, West Indies threatened to chase down 419. England won that particular match by 29 runs and they did so again by a similarly narrow margin at Southampton on Saturday.
This story is from the May 17,2019 edition of The Cricket Paper.
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This story is from the May 17,2019 edition of The Cricket Paper.
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