ENGLAND v WEST INDIES, WORLD T20: FIVE THINGS

England were blown away by a Gayle in the opening match of their World Twenty20 campaign. Here’s what we learned from a humbling night in Mumbai…

MAN OF THE DAY – CHRIS GAYLE 100 off 48 balls

Good lord. England thought they had a fair bit. Not necessarily what they were aiming for – Eoin Morgan was eyeing up 200, maybe 210 – but certainly enough to take things to the wire at least. In the end, with 11-balls and six wickets in hand, West Indies won at a canter. And it was all down to Chris Gayle. This was his second T20i hundred, and quickest, with his 11 sixes taking him beyond Brendon McCullum on the total big hits list. And it was a Gayle special: he started slowly, prowling at the non-strikers end while Marlon Samuels went to work. Crucially, this is a fit Gayle: there was no sign of the back injury that hampers him reacting late and taking on the short ball, which Ben Stokes found out when he was deposited twice into the third tier of the stand at square leg. The tournament needed this, but England didn’t.

EXTRAS

16 from England to be exact, which is appalling. There are all sorts of excuses: a dew ridden ball, pressure, Jupiter happy-slapping Venus. But to freely offer up nearly 10-percent of your score, not to mention the extra deliveries, is asking for trouble. Ben Stokes was the biggest culprit, though certainly not alone, with two no balls and two wides as he strayed into his own personal battles. That’s not the worst thing, mind: he was still trying to get Samuels and Gayle out. But he went searching for retribution and only found ignominy. As did most of the other bowlers.

BLUNTING BADREE

Quick look – here’s something England did well! One of the best Twenty20 spinners - arguably THE best with Sunil Narine and Saeed Ajmal behind angled bars - and England played him perfectly. Usually, it is a case of settling for 24 from his four overs and picking up spare runs elsewhere. But rather than play the man, England’s batsmen picked him off at will. Alex Hales in particular didn’t want to let Badree settle and smashed three consecutive fours in the leggie’s second over. That they took him for 8.5-an-over when he operates internationally and domestically and five should not be overlooked.

THE REST OF THE RUNS

In painful hindsight, England left runs out there. But where? Jason Roy will come in for criticism with his run-a-ball 15. Hales got in a muddle over Sulieman Benn’s first ball: a full, flat delivery he should have punched straight instead of tried to work square. Joe Root’s 48 off 36 was spot on. While it would have been great for him to go on, that he was dismissed trying to push on the scoring rather than faffing about – making way for Eoin Morgan, who made 27 off 14 – means little blame lies with him. Instead, it’s more a collective blame: more runs should have come from somewhere. And, it sounds churlish, but that’s something they will have to work out themselves. England did not bowl well, but the cornerstone of Twenty20 cricket is not leaving anything out there when you bat.

WHAT NOW

It’s too easy to jump to doom and gloom as an England follower, as we mentioned in these pages yesterday. Win the next three games against South Africa, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and they’re through. They’re net run rate didn’t take too much of a hammering – it could have been a lot worse than minus-0.97. They need to regroup, assess what needs to be changed (bringing in Liam Plunkett would be a start) and approach the next match against South Africa on this same ground with the same type of “no consequences” talk they started this match with. Because, well, they’ve got even less to lose now.