No longer staid and dour, bold England continue to surprise

There was a brief moment in their chase of 154 against New Zealand in the semi-final, when the spectre from England’s dark days ominously hovered. England was seemingly cruising to victory at 1-110 in the 13^th over until master blaster Jason Roy and captain Eoin Morgan were dismissed in consecutive deliveries by leg-spinner Ish Sodhi.

In the blink of an eye, apparitions of infamous England batting collapses haunted. Social media was suddenly flooded with panic from tense England supporters. You could feel the tension around the ground, there was a real sense England could make a major hash and lose the unlosable.

But there would be no choke, as England confidently mowed down the target without losing another wicket to win with 17 balls to spare. Symbolically, destructive wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Butler confidently smashed three sixes off the last four deliveries to effectively punctuate England’s victory.

England came into the tournament as rank outsiders with few predicting they would emerge from Group 1 but now find themselves one win away from becoming the first dual World T20 winner.

Clearly, this is a different England emerging and a far cry from the archetypal dour and conservative team we’re used to. Previously, England based their selections in the shorter formats off Test merit, a ludicrous rationale which encapsulated their outdated mentality.

You could always bet on England playing negatively and then imploding when the wheels started to fall off. In a notable contrast, this England team is bubbling with vitality and you can feel the confidence manifesting. They are playing the brand of cricket more akin to Australia and New Zealand of recent years, such is England’s boldness.

Where did this stunning turnaround come from?

They say one week is a long time in sports, so then I suppose one year feels like several lifetimes. That certainly rings true with England, who were in disarray 12 months ago after a disastrous One-Day International World Cup, where they were humbled by Bangladesh and embarrassingly unable to qualify for the knockout stages.

That debacle led to sweeping changes including the controversial dumping of star batsman Kevin Pietersen and, perhaps more importantly, the axing of coach Peter Moores. Eventually, Trevor Bayliss was selected as Moores’ successor to become the first Australian to coach England. Bayliss had received widespread acclaim previously for coaching Sri Lanka and spearheading them to the ODI World Cup final in 2011. He had also been a successful long-time domestic coach in Australia and done well in the Indian Premier League.

Bayliss has been the architect for England’s new-found aggressive approach complemented by his discreet demeanour, which has brought a healthy dose of gravitas and composure to settle a once shaky camp.

Bayliss’ appointment proved almost an instant tonic to England’s flagging fortunes as they reclaimed the Ashes after a stunning 3-2 series victory over Australia, who started as hot favourites. There were still obvious kinks and the team was a work in progress but you could sense Bayliss’ positive and aggressive mantra start infiltrating England’s psyche.

Despite the overhaul in mentality and some encouraging results under the new regime, few fancied England’s World T20 chances. The critics seemed vindicated when England lost their opener against the West Indies and faced a virtual near elimination when they leaked 229 against South Africa in Mumbai. Incredibly, they memorably chased the target down to ignite their campaign and instil self-belief.

They have endured some erratic performances since, as befitting this madcap format, but it all magically meshed against New Zealand on the grand semi-final stage. New Zealand started well and looked likely to post an imposing total on a flat wicket but England kept fighting back and stymied the Black Caps with a masterly display of death bowling.

In a notable contrast to most teams and quite impressively considering the spinning friendly conditions, England have bravely relied on a pace attack of David Willey, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett and Ben Stokes to do the bulk of the work.

Jordan and Stokes were superb at the death, with their ability to bowl searing and accurate Yorkers stymying New Zealand’s push for a big score. Astoundingly, New Zealand were only able to score 20 runs off the last four overs.

Still, at the halfway point of the match it felt like an even contest testament to New Zealand’s impressive ability to defend totals and also a nod to England’s perceived inability to handle pressure.

But there would be no stuttering and conservatively meandering to the total on this occasion. Roy, their brash opener, ensured England’s aggressive mantra under Bayliss would be carried out even in a knockout match. Roy smashed four boundaries off the first over of the innings to demonstrate England’s intent and belief.

Wild heaves from Roy were juxtaposed with orthodox precision in a typical mishmash befitting this schizophrenic format but what was noteworthy was his audacity, underpinning England’s positive psyche.

Roy scored a 44-ball 78 but showed he’s more than a slogger and isn’t just merely brawn. He seemingly has more brain than other manic tricksters such as Shahid Afridi and Glenn Maxwell. Roy is capable of beautiful shots of the orthodox type, including a textbook straight drive that would be the envy of Sachin Tendulkar.

Roy is the head of a deep and aggressive batting order, which has the mesmerising talents of Joe Root as its crown jewel.

It has been a long time coming but England has moulded a dangerous, confident and highly entertaining team. They could have one final surprise up their sleeve on Sunday night.