Summary
England continued their white-ball form from the ODI series win with a crushing 3-0 whitewashing of Pakistan in the UAE. The variety in selection throughout the three match series worked well and the (relative) newcomers to the side, most notably Hampshire batsman James Vince, performed admirably. Despite suffering stuttering periods in each of the matches, the England lower order came through and the visitors were able to post respectable if not challenging totals in all three games. Here are five points that can be taken from the t20 series.
1) James Vince can offer something at the top of the order
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| James Vince collects the Man of the Series award in his debut t20 series (PHOTO: Neville Hopwood) |
Jason Roy and Alex Hales are arguably the best opening partnership available to England at the moment, but James Vince has made a strong claim in his quest to oust one of them.
Roy is capable of getting the innings off to an explosive start on a consistently regular basis, although a lot of the time that has shown to have been his downfall.
Hales offers similar explosiveness, albeit in a more controlled manner. He is more likely to bat through an innings as he mixes composure with raw power. There is a reason why Hales has scored so many international t20 runs and was picked up by the Mumbai Indians towards the end of their title-winning season in the IPL last May.
Vince has shown that he too is more than capable of putting an innings together, facing 36, 24 and 45 balls during his respective stays at the crease. The latter was faced when opening in the 3rd t20, with the others coming at number three. It is of course early days yet in Vince's international t20 career but an average of almost 42 and a strike rate of just under 120 shows that he is potentially going to be more than useful at the top of the order as an anchor for the more explosive talents to bat around him, giving perhaps more security than Hales and Roy can offer.
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| James Vince collects his cap from David Lloyd - is he able to challenge Roy or Hales for a place at the top of the order? (PHOTO: Gareth Copley) |
The impressive thing about Vince's sojourns in this t20 series is his adaptability and durability. In all three games, Vince read the match situation to near perfection.
In the first game, the 24-year-old came in at the start of the third over and was soon welcoming captain Eoin Morgan to the crease after Moeen Ali departed with the score 19-3. Vince played the anchor role to Morgan and the pair put on 76 in 61 balls before Vince was bowled by Wahab Riaz for 41, allowing Sam Billings to give the innings fresh impetus on his way to a maiden t20 international 50.
In the second game, Vince did not hang about and instead took the attack to the Pakistani bowling. He crashed three fours and two sixes on his way to a sizzling 38 off 24 balls, showing that he is more than capable of hitting runs at a high strike rate if required.
Finally, in the 3rd t20, the Hampshire man played the anchor role expertly yet again. Despite wickets falling all around him, Vince kept his head and played his part in a valuable seventh wicket partnership of 60 with Chris Woakes from 40 deliveries. Warwickshire all-rounder Woakes provided the fireworks with his knock of 37 coming in 24 balls whilst containing three sixes. Vince showed just how adept he is at rotating the strike - a perfect tool for the anchor role. The 24-year-old batsman was able to accelerate towards the end of his innings before he holed out to Umar Akmal on the mid-wicket boundary looking to heave a second maximum to take him to a maiden fifty.
All in all, this was a very impressive start to life as an England international for James Vince, but he will need to continue to show this sort of measure and mettle if he is to stake a serious claim for a place in England's strongest XI.
2) England have serious depth to their batting
For the 3rd and final t20 at Sharjah, England essentially had batting all the way down to number 11 where Adil Rashid was situated. This sort of batting strength is unprecedented in almost any format of the game and this is what helped England over the line in arguably every game.
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| Sam Billings came to England's rescue in the 1st t20 in Dubai with an explosive half-century (PHOTO: Gareth Copley) |
While this strength in depth is encouraging, it also comes as a worry as to why lower order runs became so crucial against Pakistan. On the one hand, it seems a blessing to have players with the striking calibre such as David Willey, Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett in the lower order. On the other hand, an over-reliance on these 'bowling all-rounders' may come back to haunt England at some point in the future. Of course, there is no guarentee that the top order will consistently fail leaving the batsman down the line to bail them out, but it has been somewhat evidenced in this series.
Despite this, there were only really positives to be drawn from the lower order capabilities during the series, with England able to post scores that proved to be just too strong for Pakistan.
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| Chris Woakes slices a cover drive brilliantly for six en route to a vital 37 in the final t20 at Sharjah (PHOTO: Neville Hopgood) |
In the first game, it was left to number six Sam Billings to come in and rescue the England cause, having slipped to the aforementioned 19-3 at the end of the fourth over. The Kent wicket-keeper played with freedom and ingenuity on his way to compiling an excellent 53 off just 25 balls, including two brutal sixes and a couple of mind-blowing ramp shots.
The second game saw an improvement in the top order but it was still left to Woakes waltzing in at lowly number nine to strike a crucial unbeaten 15 from just seven deliveries as he helped himself to 13 runs off the final over, bowled by Riaz.
Woakes again was the man to the rescue in the final t20, coming in at a slightly elevated number eight following a rather paltry return from England's top and middle order. His 37 helped England limp over the line to post 154 - not even enough to win the match outright.
Overall, with the strength in depth that England have to their batting, they will almost always be capable of putting a half-decent score on the board with the help of a wagging tail, although it would be preferable if the top order were to step up.
3) England are capable of consistently providing complete, all-round performances
Throughout the series, England showed they were able to post challenging totals and defend them with aplomb. The bowling was generally tidy and threatening, in particular at the start and back-end of an innings. The fielding on show was at times electric, unlike Pakistan for the most part, in particular the ring fielders during the powerplays. Skipper Morgan led from the front and Chris Jordan showcased his fine fielding ability on a number of occasions. In this series England were able to produce good quality performances in all three aspects of the game. It remains to be seen what will happen if one of them falters, but there is a good chance on this evidence that two out of three may be enough to drag them over the line.
4) Is Moeen Ali a bowling all-rounder or a batting all-rounder for England?
Moeen had two opportunities to prove himself at the top of the order at number four following numerous outings at seven and eight. He failed on both. The Worcestershire player came in at four in the first game in Dubai with England on the edge at 18-2. He faced six balls and failed to get off the mark, instead sending an aerial cover drive straight to Umar Akmal at cover to leave England teetering at 19-3, with just 23 balls having been bowled.
Ali's second chance came in the final game in Sharjah when faith was shown in him despite his previous failure as he came in at four. Coming in to face the last ball of the powerplay after Joe Root had just departed after Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi outsmarted the Yorkshireman. Ali duly stepped back and slapped Afridi's following delivery straight back at the leg spinner who gleefully accepted the return catch to leave England 48-3 after 6 overs. There's no doubt that Moeen is a wonderfully talented batsman and has shown on many occasions that he is good enough to bat in the top order for England, but due his recent spells lower down the order, this was a chance to showcase what he could do - and he wasted it.
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| Moeen departs after he is dismissed for the first of his two ducks in a disappointing series (PHOTO: Gareth Copley) |
However, a positive for Ali was his bowling. In the first game he bowled relatively well and got the crucial wicket of Sohaib Maqsood, who was going well on 24 off 16 balls, to reduce Pakistan to 75-7 and seemingly out of the game.The wicket itself was a glorious leg side stumping off a wide, as Maqsood danced down the pitch to find Moeen had outfoxed him and slide it down leg for Billings to take care of the rest.
In the 3rd t20, Moeen bowled a superb four overs which, along with his dismissal of Umar Akmal, arguably shifted the balance back in England's favour with the hosts in trouble at 65-5. Ali's 1-22 was easily the most economical of the other four England bowlers and his breakthrough, like the 1st t20, was at a vital juncture.
Needless to say, Ali is one of England's top spinners and he has shown himself to be a fairly economical option, not to mention the fact that he is a genuinely top quality batsman. He hasn't shown it in his two outings in this t20 series, The fact remains that his brief 10 match international t20 career does not make pretty reading, especially for a player looking to break into the top order. Despite his one innings of 72* showing his obvious class and ability, he is still averaging just 14.33 and striking at a disappointing 119 and in his other nine innings he has scored just 57 runs at an average of 6.33. His bowling statistics are more impressive, wiht an aveage of just under 32 and a respectful economy of 7.47 - essentially averaging roughly 1-30 each game. Based solely on these statistics it would certainly suggest that Moeen is in the bowling all-rounder category along with players such as Willey and Woakes, although he surely has a lot more to offer on the batting front.
5) England can feel quietly confident about competing in the World t20 next year
It's easy to get carried away when England perform well in a series and they all of a sudden begin to look like world-beaters before inevitably crashing back down to earth to face another crisis. England are, however, having a relatively sustained period of success in white ball cricket since the World Cup debacle back in March. A fresh, bold approach has now seemingly been instilled in both ODIs and t20Is, with Roy, Hales and Willey emerging alongside stalwarts such as Morgan and Root. The fear factor is slowly but surely disappearing and a new crop of all-rounders are coming to the fore. Admittedly, the majority of these all-rounders are considered to be bowlers rather than batsman - i.e. Woakes, Plunkett, Jordan, Willey and Rashid - but they can all hold a bat and that is something that could work in their favour. As previously mentioned, having a strong lower order and strength in depth in terms of the batting has greatly improved England's chances of consistently posting competitive totals, with runs coming throughout the XI.
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| England may feel quietly confident ahead of next year's World t20 after the whitewashing of Pakistan (PHOTO: Gareth Copley) |
The fielding has been almost electric and is very focused, with Morgan leading from the front. There may be a slight question mark over the quality of bowling at England's disposal, with the absences of James Anderson and Stuart Broad and less recently Graeme Swann. The emergence of players such as Reece Topley, however, is an encouraging sign and the new Hampshire man is certainly a star in the making for England, as he has certainly impressed during the white ball leg of the tour.
There are also young talents to keep an eye on for the months leading up to the World t20, as well as the potential for players such as Ben Stokes and possibly the aforementioned Anderson and Broad to come back and strengthen the side even more,
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