00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News Straight Bad.
00:09The equation was quite simple today for England.
00:11A victory in their last group game against Sri Lanka would mean Joss Butler and co would
00:16secure their place in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup.
00:20Sri Lanka won the toss and they only scored 141 runs, but England made a real meal of
00:26that chase.
00:27They eventually won by four wickets, and it means that they are in the semifinals and
00:31hosts Australia have failed to reach the last four.
00:35Shyam, that was another thriller.
00:36What did you make of that one?
00:40It turned out to be a thriller.
00:41It didn't have to be.
00:43Because if you look at the chase, I mean, England chased, because one thing, first up
00:47is that 141 is not a good score, even given the slowness of the wicket.
00:54But England were off the flyer.
00:56They had something like 75 runs in around seven overs.
00:59And I think after Hayes and Butler left, they lost their way.
01:03I think otherwise, it was pretty much an England slap.
01:06They made heavy with the weather of the chase, I would say.
01:10Satish, like Shyam says, Sri Lanka made a great start.
01:13But England, to their credit, they fought back really well to contain them, didn't they?
01:17Yes.
01:18Great credit to Adil Rashid.
01:21He bowled a brilliant spell.
01:23And being a spinner, he was able to keep the Sri Lankans quiet, despite their being good
01:28players of spin.
01:30But yes, Adil Rashid, and then Sam Curran followed it up.
01:34And then finally, Chris Wokes.
01:36So the last five overs, I think got only about 25 runs, which actually turned the match in
01:41England's favour.
01:42Yeah.
01:43Shyam, England were bowling like a very nervous team.
01:46Sri Lanka were batting clearly like a team with nothing on the line.
01:50England had a very poor start with the ball.
01:52Do you think it was a mistake for them to start with that much pace in the first few overs?
01:56Yeah.
01:57Now, in retrospect, you could say that.
02:01Because Patil Nisenga was just firing you away.
02:05And I think they should have got Adil Rashid right into the powerplay itself.
02:10And in fact, both the spinners into the powerplay, maybe that would have slowed down.
02:14Because if you look at Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka has done exactly that.
02:17They started with Sikshna, and I think third or fourth over they had Hasranga in.
02:22That is when things slowed down.
02:24Satish, I mean, it looked like a very good wicket to bat on.
02:28But apart from Nisenga's knock, Sri Lanka lost a lot of that momentum after the powerplay.
02:33Why was that?
02:35See, this is a wicket where you can't come and hit the shots immediately.
02:40You need to spend some time.
02:41Because it's a…
02:42It bounces, it stops and comes to the bat.
02:45So you need to spend considerable time.
02:47At that point of time, when Nisenga got on, I think Sri Lanka instead of going to attack
02:51and keep the momentum going, they should have at least tried to rotate strikes, run aggressively,
02:57get ones and twos, and then make England do the mistakes.
03:01But instead, they were trying to hit the ball and giving a lot of dot balls, which played
03:05into England's hands.
03:06Yeah.
03:07Shyam, do you think if Sri Lanka had posted at least just 10 or 20 more runs, which they
03:11should have done, really.
03:12I mean, they should have got at least a few more runs on the board.
03:15It would have been a totally different game with their spinners, the way they started
03:17out as well, wouldn't it?
03:18Yes.
03:1920 more runs would have been a winning total on this wicket.
03:23And the way Sri Lankans bowl, I think England would have had trouble crossing that.
03:28Because even with this, they struggle.
03:31Yeah.
03:32And Satish, interestingly, England in their last, I think, T20s and I think in the last
03:3912 games, they've lost, I think, nine when they've been chasing.
03:43Today, it could have almost been another defeat.
03:46It looked really difficult for a little while, didn't it, when that middle order started
03:49to collapse?
03:50Yeah.
03:51Again, this is again, pure, I wouldn't say inexperience, but lack of application.
03:57Because when you needed only about six runs and over, there was no need to play those
04:01big shots.
04:02Or even play those shots in the air.
04:08If they just missed the bowling, get ones and twos, that would suffice, actually.
04:13But instead, they played these big shots and they started giving away the wickets quite
04:18easily.
04:19So, that's where the fault was with England.
04:23They could have played better than what they did.
04:28That start from Hales and Butler was, in the end, very important.
04:33You know, Hales produced a fantastic knock.
04:35He was just short of his half-century.
04:38But Sham, how important was that start in the end?
04:41Because clearly, it went right down to the last over with just three balls remaining
04:44thanks to Ben Stokes' unbeaten knock.
04:47It would have been another story.
04:49Absolutely.
04:50Because that start, that blistering start set up the England win.
04:57Because by the time these two guys left, I think England needed just less than one ball.
05:03So, actually, there shouldn't have been any pressure.
05:07But I think the English batsmen lost their head, really.
05:11Barring Ben Stokes.
05:13Ben Stokes showed superb game awareness.
05:16If it was not for Stokes, England wouldn't have overhauled the game.
05:20And Satheesh, we knew before the match that Hasaranga was going to be dangerous for Sri
05:25Lanka with his spin.
05:26In the end, he got two wickets, I think, for 23 runs or 24 runs in his four overs.
05:32How impressed were you with his bowling today?
05:34Actually, if you look at it, the Spaniards are not getting too much out of this Australian
05:39wicket.
05:40Because the reason is, they get that extra bounce.
05:43Hasaranga, Teekshana, these are skiddy bowlers who like to hit the wicket.
05:47Whereas the extra bounce is, once I think the ball, Butler missed the shot and the ball
05:52went over the middle stump, literally.
05:54So these things are working against their favour.
05:58But I didn't see a Hasaranga threat or even a Teekshana threat today.
06:03Because 141, the body language was not good.
06:06It was more about English batsmen giving away the wickets than Teekshana or Hasaranga or
06:12even Gananjaya Desilbao, who just bowled to the stumps and they didn't do anything great.
06:17Whereas English batsmen, they went, tried to play in the air, they were a bit nervous,
06:22they were a bit, say, hasty, and then they gave up the wicket.
06:26So absolutely, the wicket helped the spinners, but it was not alarming.
06:32And Shyam, finally, it means Australia are out.
06:35I mean, is that detrimental for the tournament, not to have the hosts there anymore in the
06:38semi-final stage?
06:57Actually, before the tournament started, I picked Australia to win.
07:03But I am not shedding any tears over their absence.
07:06Because if you are dependent on another team's result to enter the semi-final, then you don't
07:12deserve it.
07:13So I am not at all shedding any tears for Australia.
07:18And Satish, just finally, it's a real shame that we didn't get to see England against
07:21Australia.
07:22That match was rained off in the end.
07:24I mean, we could have been seeing a totally different finish to this group, wouldn't we,
07:28if that game had been played?
07:30Yes.
07:31No, for that matter, rain played a havoc in this tournament.
07:34But thankfully, at the end of it, it made a very interesting contest.
07:40So because of rains, there were some games which were washed out.
07:43So the favourites ended up with just one point.
07:46And now they are scampering for the final, adjusting for the final positions, the semi-final
07:52slots, which makes it more interesting.
07:54So I wouldn't say that, yes, on that day, the match would have been a thriller.
07:58But I think, finally, it came down to the last match of the group to get the result
08:06of the semi-finals or two semi-finals.
08:09Yes.
08:10Okay, guys.
08:11I think we'll leave that there.
08:12There are three big games tomorrow.
08:13South Africa against Netherlands.
08:14India is playing Zimbabwe.
08:15And Pakistan against Bangladesh.
08:16We'll be back tomorrow evening to discuss how that all goes.
08:17In the meantime, head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news, reviews and updates.
08:18We'll be back tomorrow evening to discuss how that all goes.
08:19In the meantime, head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news, reviews and updates.
08:20We'll be back tomorrow evening to discuss how that all goes.
08:21In the meantime, head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news, reviews, videos and also
08:25check out, of course, our social media channels for lots of good content there.
08:29Thanks to Sharm and thanks to Satish and see you all later on.
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