England played Australia yesterday in the second semi-final of the world cup, with the prize for the winner being a meeting with New Zealand in Sunday’s final. It was reckoned to be a close contest, between two good teams; even the Test Match Special commentators were nervous and excited as the game began. Having lost the toss, England bowled... and bowled well. Australia struggled; after half an hour they were reeling at 14-3. It was only thanks to Steve Smith’s patient innings of 85 that they were able to post a total of 223.
It never looked likely to be enough… but England tackled the total as though they were playing village cricket. By the time Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow had put on 124 for the first wicket, with a combination of classic cricket shots, brutal blows and some imaginative improvisations, the game was all but won. Joe Root and captain Eoin Morgan completed the job, with almost eighteen overs to spare: an absolute hammering.
Howden at dusk...
No comments:
Post a Comment