West Indies are making Group C look plain sailing, England are all at sea. Like, by and large, the ball (unless it was arrowing towards a fielder), England’s pursuit of a target of 197 never got off the ground, and after a largely pedestrian performance veered towards the end into a bilious combination of slapstick and horror they had been dismissed for 166 and, with seven balls remaining, been beaten by 30 runs.
Had the knife-edge result against Nepal on Sunday fallen the other way this would already be another crisis in a winter full of them. As it is they will head to Kolkata, where they complete their group fixtures against Scotland and Italy, confident given the nature of their opponents of securing the wins they require to progress to the Super Eights but knowing they can afford no further stumbles.
West Indies’ total of 196 was the third biggest of a World Cup still marked by largely moderate scoring, but it did not cause their opponents to be at all frantic. As a result England’s pursuit was always going to be judged either admirably or as puzzlingly calm, depending on its outcome.
Even as their task grew increasingly difficult, and until it blundered into the realms of the truly far-fetched – duly inspiring a couple of manic run‑outs – there was no sense of panic, few wild swings and swipes.
“One thing I would say is we were probably a little bit careful,” the England captain, Harry Brook, said. “With the power we had at the back end, myself included, I could have taken a risk a little bit earlier.
“With that power and depth we have, we do think we can chase almost anything. Obviously today we didn’t.”
Perhaps they were comforted by their comparatively brisk early scoring – they stood at 67 for one at the end of the powerplay where West Indies had been 55 for three, and 93 for four at the halfway stage where their opponents had been 79 for four – but given the success enjoyed by Sherfane Rutherford and Jason Holder in particular as the first innings neared its conclusion, this was only storing up trouble.
Clearly, England felt they had the players to do it, and unshakeable faith that one or more among them would settle down, get their eye in and start peppering the stands. The problem was that none did, and with Jamie Overton lasting just six balls, Tom Banton four and Will Jacks three, for all their vaunted depth England were swiftly scraping their toes in the shallow end.
They struggled particularly during 12 overs of spin in which six wickets fell and their innings veered definitively off course, though Brook insisted this was freakish rather than fragility. “We played spin outstanding in Sri Lanka,” he said of their recent white-ball series against the co-hosts. “We’ve just had a bad day today.”
With only Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran, who top-scored with 43, facing as many as 15 balls theirs was an innings that lacked outstanding individuals and destructive partnerships.
By contrast Rutherford had led the way for West Indies, starting slow – after 13 deliveries he had scored only 10, off his next 16 he added 43 – before accelerating to finish unbeaten with 76 off 42.
It’s a Valentine’s Day special: Scotland and England meet in different sports 5,000 miles apart today:
9.30am GMT Scotland v England in Kolkata (cricket)
4.40pm GMT Scotland v England in Calcutta Cup (rugby union)
The history
The cricketers are meeting in the T20 World Cup at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta – the very Indian city where, in 1878, British expats in the process of disbanding their local rugby club melted down their last 270 silver rupees to form a trophy that they gifted to the RFU. The Calcutta Cup has since been awarded to the winners of the England v Scotland men's rugby international, played annually as part of the Six Nations.
The contests
Scotland arrive at both matches on the back of an instructive game against Italy. the rugby men fell to a dispiriting 18-15 defeat in Rome last Saturday, while the cricketers beat the Italians by 73 runs on Monday in a match that went to form. England are favourites in both contests today but nothing is certain – their cricketers were taken to the last ball by Nepal and lost to the West Indies, while their rugby union team have lost on their last two trips to Edinburgh.
The Valentine’s factor
There’s no love lost when these nations meet, though they have never faced each other in cricket or rugby on 14 February. There is football history on this date though – the Scottish FA’s centenary match in 1973. Bobby Moore captained England in a 5-0 Hampden win over a side featuring Kenny Dalglish and George Graham, skippered by Billy Bremner. Warning: love may be tested in households where watching cricket all morning and rugby for most of the afternoon is not seen as the optimal Valentine’s Day by both partners.
The outcome
In both instances a Scotland win would serve the tournament better – the Six Nations desperately needs a revitalised Scottish team, while a theme of cricket’s expansive T20 World Cup is the growth of the associate nations. But with Phil Salt opening England’s batting in Kolkata and Guy Pepper in the English pack at Murrayfield, there is an outcome that would give extra flavour to a day of sporting coincidences: double England glory ... led by Salt and Pepper.
Really, though, their innings was a tale of three partnerships: Roston Chase and Shimron Hetmyer combined for 47 off 28, then Rutherford added 51 off 29 balls with Rovman Powell – despite Powell scoring a sober 14 off 13 – and another 61 off 32 with the free-scoring Holder, who finished with 33 off 17.
For England supporters concerned that disappointing performances against Nepal presaged an extended period of poor form for Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid, the evening brought only partial reassurance. Rashid, after a rare wicketless outing in the opener, was back to his sparkling best, taking two wickets and conceding just 16 runs in four excellent overs.
But news of Archer was less positive: another 48 runs conceded, and of the 133 bowlers used in the tournament so far only USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar has been more expensive. He did pick up the wicket of Shai Hope, but with a short, wide delivery that was asking to be hit, and not necessarily straight to Banton at cover.
“Everybody knows how good Jof is,” Brook said. “He’ll bounce back for sure.”
