Despite Harry Brook’s first T20 World Cup half-century, England was unable to overcome South Africa. It might, however, still prove to be the difference between them making it to the semi-finals or not; having narrowly lost by seven runs, England will be in a strong position to advance if their group is determined by net run rate.
With a pitch that was slower than England had anticipated, Brook had to wait his turn, scoring 18 runs off his first 20 balls. However, after shifting gears, he fully realized his potential as a middle-order T20 hitter, displaying his ability to read the game and manipulate the field as needed.
Aiden Markram took a risk by holding his fine leg up as South Africa’s quicks bowled short of a decent length. Given his tendency to play the scoop, Brook finds this a strange field, and he showed why in four balls at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th over.
He began by leaping over his stumps and evading Kagiso Rabada’s off cutter with a short, excellent leg. With Anrich Nortje bowling, Markram thought the scoop was on when he worked the last ball of the over into the leg side to maintain the strike. It meant that at mid-off, Markram personally entered the ring.
Seeing his opportunity, Brook skipped down the pitch and put Nortje in for a flat-batting stroke over Markram’s head. For the follow-up, he remained leg-side and blasted through further cover, going past Markram’s dive, for four more. The scoop held the key to opening the remaining portion of the field.
That is “absolutely” the reason Brook plays it and thinks it’s such a great tool. “It just takes one or two to escape,” he declared following England’s loss. “I think the boundaries should be simple. You just need to get a small amount of bat on it if it’s full, but I certainly missed a few.”
The penultimate over had 14 to win, and Brook lofted Nortje over mid-off, only for Markram to make an incredible catch after racing back. This proved to be his undoing. “When the score [required] is double the amount of balls, it’s about time you need to try and put the foot down at that point,” he stated. “We made an attempt to accelerate. We performed admirably for a while, but regrettably we were unable to bring the game home.”
England’s formula for success going into the last round of Super Eight matches is really straightforward: victory over the USA should be sufficient to advance them, and a significant victory will ensure advancement. Over the previous six months, we have performed quite a bit in Barbados. “Hopefully, we can go out there and really put a hurting on them,” stated Brook.
Although England’s tournament results have been unusual—they have won over Oman, Namibia, and the West Indies, lost to Australia and South Africa, and drawn against Scotland—their route ahead of them is clear: three straight victories will see them become the first side to defend the men’s T20 World Cup.
“We’re defending champs and hopefully we can go out there and win it again,” Brook stated. “We simply need to keep doing well, and we now have a couple more games that we really must win. In the most recent World Cup, we did that. In the last group phase, we completed it. Who’s to say we can’t try it once more, then?
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