The England National Cricket Team was criticised after they failed to defend a target of 430 runs against Sri Lanka. It was the highest successful run chase in ODI history. After the match, former England captain Nasser Hussain slammed Harry Brook after they dropped Adil Rashid for the game against Island Nation. However, Brook has defended the decision to drop Rashid.
Harry Brook’s double century went in vain as the Lankan Lions created history on Thursday. Liam Dawson played instead of Adil Rashid. Adil Rashid has rarely been missing as he has played 159 of their 186 men’s ODIs since June 2015.
“We brought Daws in for Rash”: Harry Brook defends his decision of dropping Adil Rashid
Brook defended his decision to drop Adil Rashid; he feels that he should have played Liam Dawson. Brook feels that Dawson was the pick of the bowlers as he kept attacking the stumps and was the best bowler for the side in the high-scoring game.
“[Even] in hindsight, I don’t know,” Brook said. “We brought Daws in for Rash, and I think Daws was probably the pick of the bowlers. He kept the stumps in play for the majority of the game and I thought Daws was probably our best bowler today.”
Nasser Hussain points out England’s weakness
Nasser Hussain believes England need to improve their wicket-taking ability in the middle overs, an area where they have struggled over the past two to three years. The former captain also believes Rashid must regain his best form after a recent dip, possibly influenced by injuries.
“In the last two or three years, if you look at all the tables and all the stats, England have struggled to take wickets in the middle overs,” Hussain said. “That, for me, is a box that England need to tick. Obviously you’ll get [Jofra] Archer back and that will help [provide] a little bit of firepower. Maybe Adil’s just come off his best as well, a little bit. He was left out today.
“I think today showed the need for Archer, a bit of firepower and the need for Adil Rashid to get back to his best because we all big up Adil, but he’s just dropped off – maybe because of injuries, but we need Adil Rashid to get back to his best.”
Sri Lanka pull off a thriller
Coming to the match, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first. England had a solid start to the innings as opener Tom Banton scored a fifty, and then Joe Root played a knock of 69 runs off 66 deliveries. Then it was all Harry Brook, as he played a superb knock of 202 runs and became the first English batter to score a double hundred.
While chasing, Avishka Fernando got off to a flying start but failed to score a well-deserved hundred as he was dismissed for 97 runs. Pavan Rathnayake played a knock of 130 runs, and Dasun Shanaka scored 97 runs. But a quickfire 61 off 27 deliveries from Janith Liyanage helped the side to chase down the target with two wickets in hand.
Source: cricketaddictor.com
