Dawid Malan scored 140 as England piled on 364 against Bangladesh to get their World Cup campaign back on track, and to remphasise his importance to their plans, writes Yas Rana.
Every time Eoin Morgan was given a Sky microphone in the aftermath of England’s reality check of a defeat in their World Cup opener against New Zealand, there was one particular message that he kept on reinforcing –“they didn’t go hard enough.”
England were unable to overcome Ravindra and Conway, but at least the World Cup-winning captain’s responsibility clearly lay with the batsmen, who managed a below-average total of 282 balls. In Morgan’s case three of his seven in the front were at risk, but lack of intention was the main cause of England’s problems.
In particular, Dawid Malan, England’s best ODI player in 2023, has received little veiled criticism. “With Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow, there’s a different dynamic at the top,” Morgan said. “Bairstow probably has more responsibility to lead the attack and set the tempo, but previously Jason Roy was doing that in pretty much standard mode, and that’s his natural play. ”Again, I would probably say “no,” they weren’t trying hard enough. ”
Although Malan fell to the top of the order with 14 from 24 balls against New Zealand, England benefited from Bairstow’s former opening partner Roy, who averaged over 60 and struck out 115 in 2019. It’s far from a Charger start. When England became world champions for the first time.
Mallan’s shot in the opening round of the tournament received harsh criticism. He experienced an outstanding new ball spell from Matt Henry. This happens sometimes even to the best players in the world. However, the comparison with Peak Roy was interesting. Although Malan was consistent, he still lacked the tone-setting explosiveness that Roy was famous for in his prime.
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In the recent series against the Black Caps at home, he also secured a place in the XI ahead of Roy with scores of 54, 96 and 127, but although he started fast, his lightning speed It wasn’t. There he reached the age of 50 with 48, 52 and 50 births. On any other team on the planet, this wouldn’t be worth considering in detail, but given the team’s philosophy and the identity of the man he replaced, it wasn’t irrelevant. In England’s three competitive matches leading up to the 2019 final, Roy and Bairstow combined for 407 points and a run rate of 6.99. At their best, they got England off to a start that was difficult for opponents to catch up to.
In the match against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, Malan chose the perfect moment to fulfill his potential. It was a faster wicket than the one England played on in Ahmedabad, and as Morgan expected, Malan, rather than Bairstow, was responsible for England’s quick start. Malan burst out of the blocks and reached a 39-ball fifty. This was by far the fastest in ODI cricket. After 10 overs, Malan was on 32 for 26 while his partner Bairstow was on 29 for 34. The left-handed pitcher was the player who most clearly asserted his authority in the innings, typically strong through coverage but equally ruthless against what was thrown at him.
Mallan had reached 61 points out of 48 when Bairstow fell, but quickly dropped to 69 points out of 51. At this point, Shakib Al Hasan was bowling tight shots and shots, with a flatter batting order underneath than Ahmedabad had seen before, with Malan reigning at the top of the attack. He has 30 overs left and, as Ben Stokes recently pointed out, there is more time in an ODI innings than players often realize.
He ended up reaching triple digits with 91 deliveries, the fastest 100 against a full member. From that moment on, Malan was spectacular, hitting 40 of his last 16 balls into the crease. He left the field with his fourth ODI hundred of the year (a joint national record) and his highest score in this format. It was an innings in which he combined his trademark control with targeted aggression.
Malan broke into the ODI side with an extraordinary performance and ultimately ousted one of the heroes of 2019. He basically did everything that was asked of him to ultimately stay in this eleven. It is no surprise that he is once again in demand from England.
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