- England Clinches Victory Against New Zealand Powered by Dawid Malan’s Century
- Tim Southee’s Injury and New Zealand’s Concerns
- Dawid Malan’s Remarkable Performance and Silence to Critics
The majority of England’s World Cup squad will spend the next two weeks unwinding before departing for India, but it will be difficult for them to reach a more relaxed state than when they completed their third consecutive stroll to victory against New Zealand. Powered by Dawid Malan’s 127, they set a target of 311 that soon slipped out of the reach of a Black Caps side possibly distracted by Tim Southee’s injury and eventually cruised to a 100-run victory.
This close to a major tournament, there is no destiny a player fears more than injury, and the dislocated and fractured bone in Southee’s right thumb will sting even more knowing it was sustained while he was attempting to drop Joe Root. His commander, Tom Latham, stated, “Obviously, he will be evaluated over the next few days, but fortunately, we have some time.” “He’s a pretty resilient individual, so I’m sure he’ll do everything he can to board the plane, but it’s hard to say at this point how long it will take.”
Jason Roy is again ruled out with a back injury for England, adding to their injury concerns. Malan’s performance has diminished the significance of Roy’s absence, and the 36-year-old would be entitled to spend the next two weeks with his feet up and a smile on his face were it not for the fact that he returns home to a newborn infant.
Two days after being dismissed for 96 at the Oval, he improved by 31 runs at Lord’s, scoring his 1,000th ODI run with a hard, flat-six off Kyle Jamieson in just his 21st match.
It seems absurd that only ten days ago Malan was prepping for this series while a chorus of voices suggested he should be replaced by Harry Brook, but this innings was not so much a middle finger as it was a middle finger and a half to the doubters. “It’s satisfying to be able to silence some people who’ve always got negative things to say,” Malan said.
“My job is to score runs, and as long as I continue to do so. I hope to maintain the support of the key players in the locker room, where I’ve always felt supported.” To remain on this team, Malan explained, “You either have to be an absolute freak or so consistent that you keep your name in the hat, and I’ve had to be the consistent one”.
Malan, the adhesive factory, has kept England’s innings together in three innings this series. This was his third century in his last seven ODIs, bringing his average to 57.32 across 21 international appearances.
Since joining England, a few mediocre performances have never affected his selection.
Fortunately for Root, the former Test captain of England has. His 29 here was by some margin his highest score of the series, even though, if not for half an over from Rachin Ravindra from which he stole a four and a fine slog-swept six, it was never particularly attractive. There were two failed attempts at the reverse ramp, as well as two failures at wide second slip, including one by Southee, off the unfortunate Ben Lister, who was forced off the pitch with a hamstring injury, preventing his return to Kent.
Ravindra compensated for some of his teammates’ misfortune by developing the excellent habit of taking good wickets with bad balls: Brook attempted to punish a long-hop but hit it straight to mid-on, Malan chased a wide delivery and top-edged it into Latham’s gloves, and Moeen Ali sent another very wide delivery steepling high to long-off.
Ravindra, who was their primary wicket-taker, was by far the most valuable contributor to New Zealand’s reply, and after Lister dragged himself out to join him at the crease, he reached a level that no other batsman on either side could match. He slog-swept Liam Livingstone and Moeen for consecutive sixes, forcing England to turn to seam, and then smashed Brydon Carse for two sixes and two fours, accelerating from 25 off 32 to 61 off 45, his first international half-century. He confronted three more balls and scored no additional runs before being dismissed by Sam Curran’s yorker.
