England: The undisputed champions of white-ball cricket

Until November 13, no team in the world has had its hand in both the ODI and the T20 World Cups. But is England just any regular team? Fearless, versatile, and fiercely skilled, they left their mark on the big stage once more, demonstrating why no other side in this century has played both versions of white-ball cricket quite like them. Just four months ago, former captain, Eoin Morgan was at the helm of the team which was altogether different. The man who has spearheaded England’s white-ball revolution since 2015 realised that time had caught up with him and opted to retire from international cricket, putting the team in the capable hands of Jos Buttler.

Buttler’s introduction to T20 internationals as England’s captain was less than ideal. On home soil, they were defeated 2-1 by India and South Africa. Even when they recovered to winning ways on tours to Pakistan and Australia, issues remained. Bowling was their obvious concern. England conceded runs at 8.92 runs per over prior to the T20 World Cup. While England’s T20 World Cup campaign began with a simple five-wicket win against Afghanistan, they were dealt a significant shock when neighbouring Ireland pulled off a surprise five-run victory, putting their qualification in jeopardy.

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However, the team quickly got their act together and defeated group leaders New Zealand in a must-win encounter, followed by another crisp performance against Sri Lanka to advance to the knockout rounds. England’s death overs bowling has been perfect throughout the World Cup, with the exception of the semi-final against India, conceding less than 40 overs in the last four overs in all of their games. In the Final, they took four wickets to deflate Pakistan and gave up only 31 runs, in the end, to limit them to 137/8. Curran deserves a lot of credit for accepting responsibility in the way he has during the world cup.

England’s batting was the talking point and their aggressive style with the bat has been the talk of the town for 7 years now but it was their bowling which helped them clinch their 2nd T20 World Title. They restricted both India and Pakistan to par scores that helped their batters to play with much less pressure. On one hand, when teams struggled to plug their gaps in the tournament, England always had someone who stood up and took the lead. They might not win bilaterals but they are now the undisputed champions of white-ball cricket.