Nasser Hussain says England's death bowling remains an area for improvement following their five-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup semi-final.
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Former England cricketer Nasser Hussain was critical of the performance by the English bowling attack in the death overs, during the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final against New Zealand. Hussain believes Tymal Mills was sorely missed in the defeat to New Zealand. England had worked themselves into a strong position defending 166-4. However, a 23-run 17th over from seamer Chris Jordan that included two wides to go with a pair of sixes and a four, eventually saw the Black Caps secure a five-wicket victory.
“That is the unbelievable stuff with T20 cricket. We saw it five years ago in Kolkata [in the T20 World Cup final vs West Indies], 19 good overs and then four in-the-slot deliveries and England lose it. Same here after that (Liam) Livingstone 16th over at the far end, it needed one following up this end and, under pressure, Chris Jordan didn’t deliver. It was either in the slot or wide and when you are bowling to someone like Neesham or Mitchell, they will put you away,” said Hussain as quoted by Sky Sports.
“I think you have to give them credit because this is a reasonably big ground, and it was a bit two-paced. It’s when you change. For the whole tournament they have stuck with that back of a length, they did not quite go short enough I thought, they were in between, and they did not change their plan. Whether, suddenly, because it is going pear-shaped you change your plan, I do not know but it is an area, still, that England cannot quite get right. For all Chris Jordan’s skills, in the last year I wouldn’t say he has got his death bowling absolutely spot on. Tymal Mills was a big, big loss. I know that you are always a better player out of the side but Tymal Mills at the end there with short balls and slower balls would have been harder to hit. But he wasn’t there, and England didn’t quite get it right at the death,” he added.
Kevin Pietersen believes losing Tymal Mills to injury earlier in the tournament was huge for England.
“You pick a squad to win a World Cup. Which means that with a number of your players, you have got to bank on, if they get injured, you have got a like-for-like replacement. I will keep harping on about this, batters win you sponsorships, bowlers win you championships. It is something which has been said on numerous occasions because bowlers do the hard yards,” he said.
“A guy like Mills is not on the circuit, he does not play the IPL – he played one season and had a shocker and has not played since. He does not play international cricket, he has not played Test cricket so the batters do not sit there thinking ‘OK, Mills, I know what he does, I know how he shapes the ball, I know the lines, I know the lengths. I know how he delivers that slower ball’. So, he is irreplaceable in that squad. That’s where I think they came unstuck is with how irreplaceable one guy is in their team,” added Pietersen.
