Broad fancies spinners for T20 Cup as England beat West Indies
ENGLAND captain Stuart Broad believes his spinners could prove crucial in the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup, having seen the bowlers pin back West Indies’ batsmen in last night’s three-wicket one-day international victory.
The home side were bowled out for 159 runs with five overs of their innings remaining in Antigua. And despite a four-wicket collapse half-way through their own innings, England held their nerve to reach 163-7 and tie the series at 1-1.
The three-match series will be decided on Wednesday, with three Twenty20s to follow in Barbados. Yet Broad is already looking forward to the 20-over World Cup which starts later in March.
“We’ve got some quite attacking spin-bowling options and it’s great to see they’re taking wickets, firstly to win in the West Indies but also – we hop on a flight to Bangladesh in 10 days’ time going to the World Cup and spin is going to play a vital part,” Broad said.
“We used eight bowlers today. We’ve got such variety – obviously Joe Root and James Tredwell are very different-styled off spinners, and with Mo Ali, and then Stephen Parry on his debut bowled beautifully with his left-arm spin.”
Eight of the 10 dismissals of West Indies’ batsmen last night were earned by England’s slow bowlers, with Lancashire’s Parry claiming the wickets of Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy and Sunil Narine – an effort that won Parry the man of the match award on his England debut.
Simmons scored an impressive 70 runs before he was caught at deep midwicket by Ben Stokes, yet no other West Indies batsman made over 20 runs.
Set a modest target of 160 to win, England started well with the bat, reaching 79-2 in the first 20 overs.
Yet three wickets then fell in the space of six balls, with Dwayne Bravo dismissing Root and Jos Buttler in two consecutive deliveries.
Stokes subsequently fell for four and Tim Bresnan was run out with 10 next to his name, with the hosts suddenly sensing victory.
However, with 105-7 on the board captain Broad came to the crease to join Ravi Bopara, and the pair began repairing England’s position. Broad won a review in his first over and went on to score 28, winning the match with a drive through cover.