It was supposed to be a game of relatively little consequence, the Ashes rivalry laid on for the sake of the broadcast deal amid an expectation that England and Australia would sweep aside the associate teams in Group B. As the two seeds, this would see them swan into predetermined slots in the Super Eight stage.
But after Tuesday’s washout against Scotland was followed by a heavy 36-run defeat to their rivals in sweltering Bridgetown, Jos Buttler’s defending champions have been plunged into a world of net run-rate calculations and weather forecasts when they meet Oman and Namibia in Antigua next week. Even dispensing with those two by heavy margins may not be enough.
Australia, who were already a victory over Oman to the good before this one, have even more reason to be chilled and will be chuckling at the predicament that England find themselves in. Making 201 for seven after being stuck in – the highest total of the tournament to date – Mitch Marsh and his men then slammed the breaks on their opponents to the tune of 165 for six. Pat Cummins, returning to the side, sent down a masterful two for 23 from four overs among it, while Adam Zampa spun his way to two for 28.
It was a classic shutdown against an England side that, beyond the form of Buttler (42 from 28) and Phil Salt (37 from 23), up top, looked short on time in the middle. Jonny Bairstow had a particularly poor game, a shoddy outing in the field followed by scratching out just seven from 13 balls. Having arrived at 92 for two in the 10th over, the match was very much in the balance here.
Although in truth, England were always behind this one after David Warner (39 from 16) and Travis Head (34 from 18) ransacked 70 runs inside the first five overs. This lively start certainly underlined the difficulty of bowling from the Malcolm Marshall End, with a short off-side boundary – around 60 metres – and a strong cross-wind blowing into it. Spectators in the Greenidge and Haynes Stand were very much in the game here.
Those conditions also made it all the more baffling that, after a tight first over from Moeen Ali, Buttler asked the far less experienced off-spinner, Will Jacks, to share the new ball and defend that trickier end. His more loopy fare was manhandled for 22 runs – solar panels on the roof the stand smashed – with this number then repeated when Buttler instantly swapped him out for the pace of Mark Wood and saw three more sixes soar.
Such a clear dose of overthink from England’s brain trust set the tone for a scrappy innings in the field overall. Buttler spent so much time running from wicketkeeper to speak to his bowlers that he was penalised for slow play, Chris Jordan forced to bowl the 20th over with only three men outside the circle. Jofra Archer returning one for 28 from four overs – Head bowled by a slower ball after Moeen had castled Warner – felt a triumph in the circumstances.
But Australia’s middle order had plenty of breathing room after that breakneck start, regular wickets scarcely proving to be setbacks as they crashed all but three of their 14 sixes with the wind. That said, Glenn Maxwell, who struggled for rhythm in a 25-ball 28, delivered one outrageous, deliberately sliced six into it. He always was a player to take things in a different direction.
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Zampa is another and after Salt and Buttler threw some early counterpunches at the seamers, the leg-spinner’s removal of both openers triggered the asphyxiation that followed. The first was a fine piece of bowling, Zampa firing in a quick, flat delivery first up to castle Salt. Buttler, slightly penned in, eventually perished attempting to reverse sweep him over backward point.
Thereafter only Moeen managed to swing freely, a 15-ball 25 with three sixes the only response as a combination of Cummins and Josh Hazlewood bowled smartly to the ground’s dimensions. When the latter had Bairstow caught in the deep attempting to thrash his way out of a funk, net run-rate, England’s new found concern, was the only thing left for them to play for.
