Death bowling dilemma for Eoin Morgan ahead of last four

ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY: In the absence of Tymal Mills, South Africa brutally exposed England’s death bowling struggles for the whole competition to see

After watching his side cruise through their opening four matches of the 2021 T20 World Cup, Eoin Morgan will have welcomed the test offered by South Africa in Sharjah. Of course, he would have preferred to pick up two points and see England extend their unbeaten run to five matches, but the opportunity to see how your side responds under pressure is invaluable to any captain.

And to England’s credit, they responded well. After being pummelled for 189 runs in the first innings and losing Jason Roy early on in their chase, the 50-over world champions remained largely unfazed, quickly passing the 87-run target required to rubber-stamp their qualification for the last four before refusing to take their foot off the gas in pursuit of victory and falling just 11 runs short. Had they succeeded, it would have been the highest successful chase in a T20 in Sharjah.

What Morgan learned about his England side is they have the ability to chase a big target and are not over-reliant on Jos Buttler runs. Indeed, it took a final-over hat-trick from a death specialist in the mould of Kagiso Rabada – a player ranked 22nd on the men’s T20 Player Index – to take the victory away from England. His side also showed that losing Roy, a player with 6,822 career T20 runs at a strike rate of 142.80, to injury does not signal the end of their title ambitions, such is the extent of their batting depth.

However, what was also brutally exposed for the whole competition to see was that in losing Tymal Mills, England have a sizeable – and frankly concerning – gap in their death bowling plans.

Looking back on the first innings, it showed remarkable symmetry to one played out in the same stadium between Namibia and New Zealand 24 hours earlier.

^{Tymal Mills suffered a tournament-ending injury against Sri Lanka on Monday}

Namibia bowled a near-faultless 16 overs, with the 11th over – bowled by Nicol Loftie-Eaton and yielding multiple boundaries – the only blot on their scorecard. Despite the immense T20 franchise experience in their ranks, New Zealand had few answers for the spin onslaught delivered by Gerhard Erasmus, Bernard Scholtz and Karl Birkenstock, and found themselves floundering on 96 for 4 with just 24 balls remaining. Unfortunately for the Associate side, just as a huge upset began to loom on the horizon, Glenn Phillips and Jimmy Neesham took advantage of their inexperienced death bowlers and scored 67 runs in four overs to push the Black Caps beyond 160. In stark contrast, Namibia were 92 for 4 after 16 overs but posted 3 for 19 from their final four overs, succumbing to precision bowling of Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Adam Milne.

And for England, it was a similar story. The powerplay, bowled by Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes yielded 40 runs and the wicket of Reeza Hendricks. The next nine overs, a slightly pacier 78 runs and the crucial wicket of Quinton de Kock to leave South Africa 118 for 2 with five overs remaining. However, in the final five overs, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram put England to the sword, blasting 71 runs in 30 balls, including six sixes and three fours, to close on 189 for 2.

Chris Woakes bowled one over and was hit for three sixes in five balls; Mark Wood, playing in his first match of the tournament after struggling with an ankle injury, conceded 24 runs; and even the usually reliable Chris Jordan, tasked with bowling the 18th and 20th overs, was dispatched 26.

Oh, how England missed Mills. The 29-year-old left-armer hadn’t been at his most economical in England’s opening four matches, conceding eight runs an over. However, he had expertly demonstrated his talents as a wicket-taker at the death, with five of his seven wickets in the tournament coming in overs 18 and 20.

Unfortunately, after straining his thigh against Sri Lanka on Monday, Mills will play no further part in the tournament, which begs the question – what will England do at the death in the semi-final?

Does Morgan persist with Wood and put his performance against South Africa down to lack of playing time and determined swinging from van der Dussen and Markram? Does he move reliable powerplay banker Woakes to the end of the innings and utilise Wood’s raw pace with the new ball? Or does he turn to Tom Curran or Reece Topley - the former a proven death specialist in the Big Bash but yet to truly shine on the international stage, the latter extremely pacy but just six T20Is into his England career?

It’s an unenviable conundrum for the England skipper and changes he possibly won’t enjoy contemplating after using just 11 players in his side’s opening four matches. However, with finishers of the calibre of Phillips, Neesham, Mohammad Nabi, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Mohammad Hafeez, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell and Asif Ali among the players possibly standing between England and the trophy, it’s a problem which needs rectifying swiftly.

As for South Africa, they ended the tournament with a bang, making a bold statement as to the potential of their current crop of players. But after missing out on the last four on net run rate, their laboured pursuit of 84 against Bangladesh in their second match will no doubt haunt them all the way back home.

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