ENGLAND SUCCUMB TO SUPERIOR FORCE

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1:01The world moves fast. You work day, even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 co-pilot is your AI assistant for work. Built into word, excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps you use. Helping you quickly write, analyze, create, and summarize. So you can cut through clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn more at Microsoft.com slash M365 co-pilot. Oh, let's swing for Anderson now. What's that out? It is out. Stokes flashes it away through the covers for four. And England won the match. Hello, welcome to the analyst insight cricket with me, Simon Hughes, and me Simon Mann. And we're joined again by Deep Das Gupta, the former Indian player and current commentator. We've watched two pulsating cricket matches over the last two days. We've

2:04just come off watching that game in Mumbai, which I suppose. Simon, you take a slightly rive view of it. 99 runs scored in the game. England lost by seven in the end, but you have a particular description for this game, don't you? Well, it was the closest, least close game. I think I've ever seen. So there's seven runs. It makes it look like a sort of nail bite, but I have to say there was not one single moment, one single ball in that match that I thought England were going to win the game. Not even after the first ball. That's a bit, that's a bit hard. I mean, you know, there were, there were, there were moments, weren't there? There were moments when, yeah, perhaps when Sam Karan and Jacob Beth, I mean, what an innings by Jacob Beth, by the way, I mean, extraordinary innings in totally in a loss cause and actually at one point, well, at several points in that run chase around about sort of 15, 16 overs. England were ahead

3:08in terms of runs, 195 for five compared to India's 191 for four say at 16 overs. So they were four runs ahead, but they had lost that crucial extra wicked. And I suppose deep in a way, the key thing was in five overs to go, you still had two overs of Bumra. Yeah, I mean, I think it wasn't two was it. I think just one over the 16th over that's what was left as far as Bumra is concerned. I thought till the 15th over, I think England needed some 75 or 30 something on those lines. And in this game, I thought 75 with five wickets in hand. And like you said, I mean, Bethel and Sam Karan batting the way they were. I thought they were, they were in for it. I mean, they were very much in the game. I was a little, when when they took that call of not going after just beat Bumra, I was a little surprised. I'm not saying go like hammer and tongs, but then they were like, they were happy to get six of his over. I thought, that's a little strange

4:10because he's gone for a few previous to that over. So he's given away a few runs before that. So yeah, I mean, then you're leaving a riddle much for yourself in the last few. Well, one, I mean, if you look at the bowling figures, obviously most of the bowlers went first of 12, 13, 14 and over, Jack Joffrey, after went for 15 and over. Bumra, 8 overs, 1 for 30, Bumra, 4 overs, 1 for 33. And you know, never did a sort of more anonymous looking bowling figures actually have such an impact. The thing about him is, you know, when he had to bowl those perfect Yorkers, he did. And it also, what's amazing about him is that even when he bowls the slower ball, Yorker, it lands in the right place. So he's bowling 88 to 90 mile an hour, perfect Yorker's right in the block hole. And then he's bowling the slower ball at 72 miles an hour, also in the block hole. I don't think, I mean, I said this on an Instagram post, I played against Malcolm Marshall and was he Matt Kram and the your great capo dev Richard Hadley, you know, all these great balls.

5:14I never seen anyone with the degree of skill that Bumra has and the way he handles pressure as well. Yeah, I mean, and also to be fair, he works really hard on those Yorkers. I mean, so this was, let's just straight after the Asia Cup, there was a South Africa series and he didn't get his Yorkers right. You know, he was bowling way too many full tosses and stuff like that. And since then, I've just seen him bowl those Yorkers go in the nets and just bowl Yorker, just practice Yorker. So he is consciously worked very hard over the period of his career, but off lead as well, both the South Africa and the South Africa bilateral series, he's been focusing specifically on that Yorker. And yeah, I mean, it has come good when it comes to the most. Just to pick up on, you know, something I said at the start, they're deep saying that England did 75 or 5 and they were in the game. I think perhaps from your perspective, deep it felt like, just I was watching a game. I never felt I thought all something in the world, they were kind of level in terms of where India were in this fluently at the back end. And it just, I just felt it,

6:20it would have completely perfect chase from where they were and the Bumra fact, well, I just couldn't just go in that way to runs or be it. It was a bit of a turkey shoot. I mean, the pitch was flat, the dangers were short, the outfields are stunning. It was a thankless, it was a thankless, actually, there were 34 sixes in the game, which is a World Cup record, a T20 World Cup record. And to me, actually, it looked like playing on the nursery ground at lords where, you know, you've got 40-yard boundaries and, you know, a slice goes over the slips, goes for six practically. I mean, it is a postage stamp of a ground with a flat pitch with lovely bounce, you hit through the line, it sails away. Jopper, he likes pre-balls again. Then I would swing it into him like that. Okay. Well, what, you mean at Mumbai or at the, the, the Mumbai? I'm saying Mumbai. Right. Right. I mean, as opposed to the power of these guys, does made ground steam a lot smaller. It's the same in the golf course, isn't it? When you see those guys line up now with a, the big berth of drivers and they make, they drive through 350 yards of half five is a chip for,

7:23on chip onto the green with a nine and a second shot. You know, it's, it's amazing. The power they have, but, you know, it is a small boundary and with the pitch bounce that's so consistent as well. It doesn't make the job, job easier. I mean, let's go back to the start of the game. Another fantastic performance by Sanju Sampson. Admittedly, Jopper Archer conceded 26 of his first two overs. I felt Archer was going to be a key man for England because he's, was seems to be, he seemed to be getting better and better in the tournament and was starting to bowl those, you know, really sort of difficult deliveries, sort of at 90 miles an hour getting into the ribcage. Now, he bowed quite short to Sampson. And I know the crop, the commentators were quite critical of that and Sampson took advantage of it. But from memory, in previous IPL encounters, Archer's caused Sampson a problem with the short ball, which is probably why he went to it. But Sampson was so far

8:24back on his stumps. And there was a good graphic demonstrated on TV to show where he was standing, almost in front of the wicket, you know, inside the crease. And he made those short balls easy to handle. Yeah. But also, I mean, as a baller, and there's a question for you now, if you see a back with what his feed inside the crease, what shot is he getting ready for, according to you as a baller? The shot, I mean, isn't it? Well, it is the short ball. I mean, I suppose you could say also, someone like Hardick Pandia gets right and back on his stumps towards the end of the innings, correct? Because it's a full thing. I don't know for the full delivery. I get your point. Yeah. If you are right back on your stumps, the last ball you want to bowl, I guess, is a short ball. Unless it, unless it's, you know, 95 miles an hour, I suppose. Yeah. And not too short. And he just got in line and length horribly wrong. Didn't it? Yeah. And it just gave India a fantastic flying start. True. I mean, obviously, there was this opportunity, the catch. I mean, just, I mean, I'm not, I'm not going to hop up on that catch, but it was the turning point as far as I'm concerned. But

9:27that particular delivery that we're talking about, that's exactly where you wanted the baller is to bowl to Sanju, who's caught his both his feed inside the crease, fuller, a little outside of some of the other thing he's got started doing. He's got a close face of the bat now. He doesn't have an open face like that. His bottom hand is kind of closed. So he's, he's actually looking to kind of fit through the line a little bit with his bottom hand with a close face. So I thought that particular delivery was a perfect delivery to bowl to someone like Sanju. On the one that goes the drop. Yeah. Exactly. That particular delivery. Yeah. But nothing of it from Sanju Samson. I think was absolute. I mean, the calmness is, I mean, right through that innings, even the previous one was absolutely super. I mean, how calm he was right through these two innings. We are talking about like two must win games, two quarterfinals. I mean, one quarter final of almost and one semi final. I mean, just to bat with such calmness and clarity was absolutely brilliant. And generally, what you see in T20 cricket when a lot of the

10:30batters, they're like, it's either a big shot or nothing. But if you look at even, you know, couple of the innings that we've seen as rather three innings that we've seen in the last couple of days, it's been a very mature kind of innings. It's about fours and sixes. But if you can't get it, look for a single. So I thought, I mean, Bethel and Sanju Samson and then Finale in yesterday. I think they were property 20 quality innings. Yeah. I just one point about the two innings today. Those two, well, nearly 100 for Samson and 100 for Bethel. They're touch players as well as being powerful six hitters. You know, they are, as you say with Samson, he played a single. He glanced and glided the ball behind square when it was full as well as the incredible sort of pulls and pick up shots and all that and drives back over the ball as head. You know, he does play those sort of nice stylish top shots in a depth placement shots as well. And same with Bethel. I mean, Bethel a couple of times he glided a Yorker wide Yorker outside off, you know,

11:35down to the third man boundary and things. So it's amazing their repertoire, their ability to be able to go from a late sort of glide shot to the full blown bludgeon back over the ball as head. It's amazing. I thought Samson played really well. But you know, if you get two innings, then you know, your quid's in, aren't you? I mean, it was a terrible drop by Harry Brock. I mean, he is one of England's best fielders. He's caught some brilliant catches. It was just one of those moments. You know, why does it happen? Well, because gravity exists. I suppose your hands in the wrong place and down it, down it goes. I mean, he was on 15 at the time. It would have been 24 for two. So he went on to about 89 from 42 balls. I've got written down here. It was his seventh ball. But I mean, Harry Brock will be going to bed tonight thinking about that. And I actually seem to, I thought it seemed to affect him as well, because you could, you could see and every time Samson was lifting one over the ropes and hitting hitting the ropes with a boundary, you could see like the

12:35agony on on Brooks face. It was a really big moment in the game as it turned out. That's not to say that India wouldn't have scored big because it was, you know, they've got some great, a great aggressive batters. The pitch was flat and England's bowling is not their strong suit. So, you know, you'd have backed India to score big when they were able to got to 50, which was there, you know, which is a match winning score. Well, we'll never know. But yeah, to a huge moment in the game and it was a catch that you'd expect Harry Brock to take that catch 50 times out of 50, wouldn't it? Yeah. So anyway, it costing them, as you say, the 67-1 in the power play was the India score, so 67-1 after 6 overs, 91 for 1 after 8 overs. And then they got to 190 for four at 16 overs and then they got 63 off the last four overs. Is there anything deep that England could have done with the ball better, do you think? I guess the first six always. I mean, that just

13:35said the dawn. I thought Joffra, the length that he ball. Oh, Bill Jackson, I mean, listen, that was a bit of a gamble. It's not a venue for the spinners any which way. I thought he balled well to pick up a couple of big hits and especially, who's was it? I had to reach out for it. Anyway, so I thought in general, he balled really well. Yeah, Sanjay Shamsen, I had to reach out for it. That was beautiful. And also that Abhishek Sharma Vika was nice and flited and slow delivery. I mean, you've got to be brave to ball that and advancing it. I mean, I messaged you yours. Didn't I after about 20 minutes, 25 minutes, I said, game over. And I deep looted to it there, didn't you said that he felt the power play sort of set the tone. And that's what it felt like to me really. That once India got away in that power play, 67 for 1 after 6 overs, you could see a really big score in the offing. Well, I think I said to you, England would be lucky to get out under 220. And as it was, as a bit of VAT on that, wasn't it, 250 plus really significant

14:43score. I mean, I mean, fair play to England because normally, that sort of score takes away the belief of the opposition, doesn't it? What happens is they come out, you feel you've got to play lots of shots. You end up being 30 for four or something or 50 for five when you're playing lots of big shots when you're taking on that sort of target. And I actually thought, I thought England when they batted, they're always kind of like a wicket or two, too many down. I thought the good thing about India's innings is that they scored freely, but they had those wickets in hand as well. So you're able to really go hard towards the end. You know, and the final analysis, seven runs, it doesn't make it look close, but I mean, those people didn't watch the game. And I know, everyone has the chance to watch it. Joffar Archie did hit the last three balls innings for six when the game was over. So it kind of, it put a strange sort of gloss on the game in a way. You look at all seven runs, that must have been a really close match, but it wasn't, it wasn't ultimately, I don't think. Although there were probably moments when England was still had that

15:45belief, but it was always going to, it was felt as though they were just a little bit too far behind and they'd lost perhaps a wicket or two, too many. So going back to England's innings, I mean, with the ball, we said Simon at the start of the tournament, we worried about England's bowling, that it wouldn't necessarily have enough ability to keep a raging batting order in check. And that's certainly what it proved today. So at the halfway point, 254th to win, is obviously the highest score that had ever been made in a T20 World Cup match to win to win. A successful chase. So we kind of more or less gave them, well, one out of one out of ten, I guess, 10% chance of doing it. Phil's soul departed early, a little bit of swing from Arctic Pandia with the new ball. They kept bummering back. It was interesting watching Josh Bartlett bat deep, wasn't it? We've seen him startle in the tournament. We've all picked him

16:46in our T20 fantasy team and I will come to that in the second half of this show, but he just hasn't been able to get going. And the positions he got into today were kind of for lawn hope of trying to hit the ball and occasionally did one hit one for six, but it didn't look convincing and a couple of times he tried to hit his sort of familiar shot over mid-off and just lost his shape and the bat that twisted in his hand and the ball sort of trickled out. It was quite sad and almost slightly painful to watch actually. It has been painful this whole world of watching Josh Bartlett because well for me I think is one of the greatest white ball cricketers, maybe the greatest England has produced in terms of special teach when he cricket. And it is painful to watch him struggle this way. And I think obviously the comms were talking about losing his shape and all which is fair enough and that is because he's not using his feet at all. He's just playing everything from the crease. I mean to keep your shape going you need a wider

17:47base. You need some kind of a footwork. I'm not saying like orthodox test match kind of footwork but at least some kind of a footwork. But if you notice him right through this world cup he's been playing from the crease with a narrow stance and so it is quite obvious that he's not getting any power through his shot. He's losing his shape and it is like I said it is painful to watch someone like Josh Bartlett. I mean yeah I mean he's he's been such a great player over the years. It is quite painful. So he got to a got to 20 odd again which he has done a couple of times in the tournament before eventually a slightly fallon swish across the line to chatravati and gave him his wicket got a clean bowl which brought in Jacob Bethel. I just want to pick on one other dismissal before we get into the sort of remainder of the innings. I said on the preview of the semi-finals. Bumbra will come on to bowl when Harry Brook is in England's best player. Watch out for that slow ball Harry. What did he bowl first ball? What did he bowl first ball?

18:51The slow ball. You're sharing the flows for the drive. One handed far too early skies in the air brilliant catchbacks of a tail running back but it was well I'm sorry but that was a dismissal. I thought was written you know two two days before the game and it was absolutely beautifully bold and some fantastic apricot by India. Yeah I mean listen Bumbra obviously is his different but yeah when you're chasing down to 50 you you want to kind of force and and I guess Harry also wanted to kind of prove a point against Bumbra he you know I guess is that I don't know him personally I guess he's that kind of a character like you know you want to take on the best baller in the opposition and stuff like that and also chasing down to 50 plus I mean that's a huge total but yeah Bumbra is brilliant and and this is what I really really love about Bumbra and I think I've mentioned here before as well you know people keep talking about his his unique action and everything

19:57else but his cricketing IQ is super I mean he just has this knack of knowing what to ball when to ball and and to whom I mean it he's he's absolutely brilliant that but it was a fabulous catch as well wasn't it by so I mean I my money was on the ball because it was it though it was too haven't seen it it was kind of running over his head and he slightly misjudged it and in the end kind of had to die towards Andrew half die towards the boundary to take it it was it was a brilliant catch he was involved in another one later it was kind of one of those relay catches yes I thought I was good but I thought that was regulation compared to this one this was a this is a wonderful piece of athleticism I wrote on his way one handed helping it out into the the offside and I think I think that was that's my feeling is that Andrew was just like losing one one wicked too many all the times kind of when that partnership gave him some hope I it was it was all it's a lot to do when he's chasing 250 plus and

20:58yeah well then he final yeah well they did science the crowd a little bit didn't they and Harry Brutkin tossed that he said to me like the crowd well he did for a little bit because it was quite hushed far from the man on the PA of course he was very hard to say that's right yeah I mean it was actually and and Simon messaged me saying you know the crowd can cheer for a few sixes in my league it's about us they just go today they they they have their lips are sort of completely sort of they're lips are completely shut when swimming and hit a boundary what's it like in when you play in the Wangkeedy stadium and you've got that roaring support I mean it's almost deafening isn't it well I mean obviously in your point of view it's probably quite uplifting but is it also a pressure it can be a pressure obviously but you get used to it because these guys they play IPL and everything there so more you play you get used to it and and Wangkeedy and you guys have mean to Wangkeedy it's it's like a a cauldron right it goes vertically up so you know guides

22:05on the third year are right above you so you can actually as a spectator you feel very close to the player as well you can actually listen to almost everyone as a player if you're standing in the boundary so I mean yeah that makes it even more loud on today so it is and mind you it's not a huge ground compared to the Indian venues it's capacity is worth 32 31,000 so it's not a big ground so to say but my word you've got to be there to to to experience what Wangkeedy is yeah and I England to their credit you know shut that out and Ethel played a a wonder of a linnings I mean he took he took Jack Ravati apart and hit him all over the place back over his head he pulled him I noticed they used that tactic England that South Africa had against Jack Ravati and they got back and hit him off the back foot sort of almost flat battered him back down the ground a couple of times and pulled him off his length and then he forced him to go wide and then Ethel reverse

23:07swept him a couple of times reverse wrapped him for six and you know a fantastic repertoire of shots he displayed and and actually a great result given that there were wickets falling the other and I mean bans and hit a few good shots and obviously Sam Caron did will jacks did but bans and was the sorry Bethel was the one that kept it rotating all the time kept the kept them with a tiny just glimmer of how yeah and and while I said I thought till the 15th over England were in in that branches very much so I thought it was maybe 60 14 in India's favor I thought it was going to be lot closer than than than what what you guys I mean what we see but then for me the reason being how easy Jacob Bethel make it look he did not take chances it wasn't like he was trying to hit six or something it was just an effort less than a superb innings you know this proper orthodox cricketing shots yes every now and then he would hit a reverse lap or something but it just

24:09seemed it just seemed like so much in control that ran chase when him and especially will jacks were batting that partnership and both of them and obviously will jacks is in super form himself I mean last I mean right through this world cup and and both of them when they were batting I was like god this is this is going down to the wire because they were getting two boundaries every hour without making an effort just being normal cricket so that's so there were 45 England needed 45 off 18 balls and bummer a bowl the 18th over and they only got six runs off it so then it needed 39 off the last two overs which obviously was out of out of bounds do you worry you know so India got home in the end I mean fairly more comfortably than the score lines are just do you worry that the bowlers apart from boomerah looked a big look a bit exposed coming into the final a little bit but my concern would be more to do with Wadrun because you would expect I mean the whole reason behind the dominant sort of show of

25:14India in last couple of years in this format has been on the back of I mean partly on the back of Varun Chakraverti picking up wickets in that middle phase and being very very economical so you had boomerah to bowl couple of four was at the top and couple at the end you know some of that and then Varun in the middle because and this is what I honestly believe that start and the end would roughly be the same right every team would roughly get the same number of runs it's how you play the middle phases in terms of bowling how many wickets that you pick or at the batting how many boundaries you hit in that 7 to 15 over period and that's where I think Varun has been superblast couple of years picking up picking up economical my concern more than anyone else is with Varun at his four overs because he's been going for plenty enough four games now I think he's been going at then and all but in the last four games about six or today 64 from his four year most expensive ballroom actually the two really vaunted bowlers archer and Chakraverti I'm obviously

26:19bummered is the top-class ball among those that triad they were the most expensive in the guy I'm Joffar archer was most expensive figures in t20 internationals he went through a 60 as well yeah yeah I mean it's it's I mean is there any possibilities in the end you might leave him out of the final or you could like I think it would be too late and get in someone like who would you get in you get pulled deep wasn't wasn't played a game so far or he's played one I believe for whatever it's been too long this tournament so I doubt they'll make that change but they could I just maybe I suppose instead I doubt they'll do that but I think they're gonna go with Varun and also the fact that Varun had a really good bilateral series that might get him some give him some confidence against against New Zealand what was last month actually so he's had a good series against New Zealand there so maybe some kind of confidence he can derive from that series but he's got to figure out I mean what you rightly mentioned now most of the batters are

27:22actually bling him off the back foot and and that is something that he needs to now find OVR of that it looks as if he's panicking a bit actually looks you know you can see his face he's a bit mystified about about what to do final thought about England Simon I mean a brave run chase today bowling was pretty pretty ordinary wasn't it in the main but it was something we expected I would you sort of in the end sum up their their performance as as over the tournament as getting better but not quite good enough I yeah not not quite good enough I mean I think we all thought I mean I think we said it didn't we in our previous I think we said England 75 and a spend no further you know they're running to a really sort of crack new unit in the 75 in life they're probably South Africa or India and they will lose and it that they lost by seven runs it was a bigger defeat than seven runs in a way because there was no way they were going to win the game going right towards the end indeed 30 off the last over don't I don't think their

28:23bowling is good enough I don't think has enough mystery enough subtlety variety overall quality and the and the batting today well the batting has got a lot of power and a lot of ability and some quality in it I thought in India looked at England's bowling they looked at the pits they looked at the dimensions and they looked at the outfield and they said yeah no trouble at all well we'll thrash this lot and that and they did and England probably got a bit closer ultimately than I think probably most people would have thought and even though they have got that quality in their batting and Bethel was Bethel is a special talent isn't he we've seen this winter we've seen him play two stunning innings that century in Sydney brilliant and today I mean the difference it's the difference between yeah Butler and Bethel today they're the older than you it's the moment I know it's kind of like it's a very easy comparison to make but you got one guy who's looking young and fluent and just right at the top of his game another who's just

29:26searching a whole time so yeah so I think basically with England they achieved what we thought they were going to and kind of like the game panned out almost as we expected to as well with the India thrushing England's boldest and England's batting kind of standing up but ultimately not quite good enough and as for Mumbai wankiti stadium no room to expand it obviously because you're right next to the river you're right next to the sea so I my argument is that in wankiti particularly I think they should put boards up at about 20 meters high and you can get caught off them if you hit a six and it bounces off the board you catch it on the rebound that's out okay you wait you don't want boards in Chinaswamy in Bangaluru you have nets right fish nets so that the protect the spectators so yeah catch them off the fish nets then put the fish nets up all around the wankiti stadium and you you're out if you get caught off it like they're doing

30:30anyway with that we'll we'll we'll we'll pause on that sort of a ceaseless note and we'll come back off the break and talk about that fantastic run chase that New Zealand pulled off against sadda shot clocks big shots upsets aces TGL playoffs are here first Atlanta drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles golf club then Rory's Boston common golf and Tigers Jupiter links face off in their playoff debuts who will advance keep up its playoffs tune in Tuesday March 17th at 6 30 p.m. and 9 p.m. only on ESPN and the ESPN app two good and co-coffee creamers are made with farm fresh cream real milk and contain three grams of sugar per serving that's 40% less than the five grams per serving in leading traditional coffee creamers for a rich delicious experience whether you enjoy your coffee hot cold bold or frothy two good coffee creamers make every sip a good one too good coffee creamers real goodness in every sip find them at your local croaker in the creamer aisle close your eyes exhale feel your body relax let go of whatever you're carrying today

31:37well I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class I got them delivered free from 1800 contacts oh my gosh they're so fast and breathe oh sorry I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order oh sorry namaste visit 1 800 contacts calm today to save on your first order 1 800 contacts so I'm so pleased to say looking back at that semi-final at Calcutta yesterday that the main thing that I'm excited about was that I had fin Allen in my fantasy team we all picked fantasy teams at the start of the tournament that we thought would deliver over the over the tournament as a whole and I've been keeping a tally of of how we're all doing as our individual teams deep you were soaring ahead with the points you had for the players you chose Simon was lagging a little bit behind and so as I by picked up with fin Allen's astonishing assault of South Africa yesterday

32:38100 of 33 balls I mean it was quite incredible I mean obviously South Africa you know they stumbled to 169 in the end they they lost early because they lost two wickets to the offspin of McConkey didn't they two left handers got out very early on Quentin Decock and then Ryan Rickleton both getting out into consecutive balls and that sort of destabilized South Africa Aiden Markham didn't really get going and it was really only Marco Jansson and a bit of Tristan Stubbs had actually got South Africa to a decent score but you thought they might be able to defend it but I mean New Zealand just sailed away with it it was amazing yeah I mean that inning from fin Allen in fact you know what preview was when you mentioned fin Allen I said yeah that's a good choice because he's been in soup but you didn't pick him though you didn't I didn't I didn't though because I had already made my choices so yeah fair enough yeah fair enough but yeah I mean BBL highest score he played one game in that bilateral series against Indiana he got a 74 of 30 or deliveries and you could just see that

33:46he's he's in super form and and this and and again I mean it just comes so naturally hitting fours and six sister fin Allen and I want to like is again he he his go to areas are down the ground predominantly so those for me if you if you're trying to hit big shots if you're hitting down the ground chances are that those the percentage is a lot better in your favor the odds are in your favor to get them right and that's what he does is his scoring areas are down the ground he does play that sweep shot which almost every keybie battles to place the reverse as well but the best part is again thing that we were talking about effortless but then if they don't get a four or six it's not a dot ball so they were only 33 out of 33 just four dot balls so obviously most of them are fours and sixes but then barely any dot ball so this is what I find fascinating and something that you mentioned earlier on is you're trying to hit a six and then the last moment just having that

34:50awareness of of of being it softly for a single I mean it's incredible isn't it both of us have faced you know some good fast bowlers over the years and good spinners and I mean you know you were playing more recently than me but I knew you're obviously a proper player whereas I wasn't really a much of a batsman but no nevertheless I can sort of I can't quite get my head around the idea that I'm actually going to be able to hit this for six unless it's not where I want it to and then I'm just going to block it for a single for me batting was about I'm just going to try and keep this out of my stumps as much as possible and maybe maybe there might be the odd chance to sort of push one through the offside for a couple of runs if someone actually happens to over pitch slightly wide but that's the limit of my aspirations whereas these guys they're hitting you know their sort of thought process is if I can't hit the six I'll hit the four if I can't hit the four I'll hit the well yeah yeah I mean and that's the that's the basic or fundamental shift in the mindset as

35:52was dot or defense and then one two three four and six but it's the other way around it's six four three two one and the last thing on your mind is to play a dot ball so I think fundamentally the mindset of the battles have changed but again to adjust yourself your batswing and your body shape from trying to hit a six to kind of you know hit a normal cover drive for a single to long off or long on I mean and they they look so comfortable doing it it's it's not that they're looking uncomfortable as if you know they're managing to do that it's not managing they actually are doing it like properly and effortlessly and this is what I find amazing and Phil and I mean 33 balls 100 and I mean they never looked in the game to be fair South Africa in the second innings I mean him and Dim Saiford they had what some 80 odd runs in the first six or something like that yeah that's right I think I mean the game was over in the first six itself do we call South Africa the Seaward Simon or was it more a question of New Zealand just jumping

36:58on their throats really today or yesterday and then their coach actually addressed this to me in the press conference after he said he said it wasn't a choke it was like it was a slaughtering you know I think nothing like that's all really just absolutely hammered just one thing yours how many sixes you hit in your top level career then in your god you are asking me a ridiculous question actually I did actually hit him both and for six months he bowled me a half volley on leg stump and I picked it up over square leg just like Sanju Samson does you know that little flip shot and it probably just carried over the rope at taunton which is the smallest round in the world about a 42 yard boundary nothing about that I probably hear about three others I did actually hit Alan Donald for six months and I claim it was a hook but actually I was protecting my face and it flew off my glove over the key was head for six we we don't need to sort of talk about deep spatting credentials because I was there when he made his test 100 against England didn't go how many six did you do hit deep and you're not ready I can tell you not too many I don't think

38:03any had done maybe one I guess maybe one or two we'll get a listener or a viewer at some point but anyway I mean how does South Africa look back on it I mean it was it just one of those days Simon do you think well I think they lost an important toss I mean I think the pitch was pitch started the pitch was just I mean Ada Marker was talking about this afterwards he probably would as I've losing much in that situation so the pitch was just a little bit stoppy and then there was some there was a sort of film of Jew and that and the ball came on nicely and if you let those two right for an Alan if you let them loose in your house for too long they will absolutely wreck the joint and that's and that's what they did didn't I mean you know the game but the game was over in 35 40 minutes I mean you let them go oh they're deadly you've got to get them early to do them have a chance otherwise well the game's disappearing over the hills so of course we didn't have New Zealand any of us in our likely semifinalists never mind finalists and again they've

39:05done it again it's the sixth final they've made global final since 2015 so in 11 years they made six finals lost four of them won the World Test Championship final of course against India in 2021 but apart from that they've lost their their finals I mean I just I actually wrote a piece a day on the Crickverse so you can get to that you go to Substack I'll put the link on the podcast notes but the I wrote this piece about why is it that we always underestimate New Zealand and I asked chat GBT for some answers and it gave me one or two it was quite interesting well one of the answers was they just handle pressure maybe better than other people and I don't know but I wonder if the reason for that is they just have this beautiful lifestyle back in New Zealand I mean I went there for a week in a bit in the ashes Simon you've been you've been there many times you were there quite recently I mean it is the most beautiful country maybe you just think well whatever happens on the road I've got a beautiful life to go back to you know nothing sort of matters and

40:08you look at someone like Mitch Santor the captain who's inherited the sort of nonchalance and a flagmatic nature of Kane Williamson his preview predecessor you know he just if three sixes get hit off Marco offer of his bowler he just sort of shrugs and gives the ball to somebody else and all is all is well again I mean it's an amazing how flagmatic and unflappled they are as a race isn't it well yeah and they they've been so successful late and it's the same finals we had last year in the Champions League that match in the in the year is in armoured a bad you know bad live in armoured a bad it's a huge crowd there India will be obviously clear favorites and they've come one two is you know they've done well under pressure to win two matches against West Enders and England will be favorites in the final but you know you just wonder whether it might just be New Zealand's turn now this time I mean I wouldn't I wouldn't but back to get in there I

41:11will be starting to start with all India and they're in the final and it's going to be a mighty mighty challenge even it's flagmatic New Zealanders yeah yeah the other thing which they do really well is they do their fundamental so well I mean they quite literally look at the processes and do that so well the basic stuff running between the wicked uh feeling catch building they're very good I mean even yesterday I mean they were I mean in this semi-final they were so so cold I mean that double-metry catch was brilliant and that could have been a turning point in the game as well so I think they do those those one percenters or the fundamentals or the basics whatever you want to call it they do it better than better than anyone else in World cricket I mean very rarely you'll see an upset against New Zealand you hear upset against England India South Africa whatever Australia but very rarely you'd see an upset against New Zealand because for them

42:12it's about the process it's doing the basic things right over and over again even though it's monitored us you do it the same thing over and over again that's what as coaches we keep talking about but they actually do the hard better than anyone else in World cricket wonder if it's also you know partly to do with the it's like there's a you know stark contrast in a way between Indian cricketers and New Zealand cricketers Indian cricketers you know are kind of gods in India and there's a billion people following them in New Zealand tiny population uh not that many people interested in cricket they got little sort of becolic grounds which are like almost a country grounds uh there's no high profile players there really I mean you know they're fantastic cricketers but they're not public figures in the same way as the Indian cricketers are maybe there's less sort of public pressure on New Zealand cricketers and they can be freer in their in their approach okay anyway can they can they be India on on Sunday in armoured a bad yeah they can I mean I'll be honest I mean they can there's no two ways about it uh

43:14but I'm the bad high scoring pitch it does suit India a little more that surface that venue at this being or or I don't know if if this pitch is going to be on the slow side let's say we're looking at a 160 170 page then they get I mean the difference gets closer because if you look at that that New Zealand side they've got a good bowling attack Ferguson Matt Henry have been called Santana obviously uh but they're batting leave aside Tim Syford Fin Allen there's a lot of these guys who don't have a very high strike rate Glenn Phillips does but only recently started batting at number four he's still getting used to batting at number four so when it comes to a high scoring game I don't know whether it suits New Zealand or not I personally I would say it suits India more than New Zealand if it's a high scoring game I would obviously there'll be 130 000 people cheering for India as well yeah yeah yeah that's that's always going to be there always going to be there

44:19and but again New Zealand going as the underdogs which they usually do with so many finals that you said uh and and they've got nothing to lose here so yeah I mean I guess that frees them up uh more than anything else yeah I mean that might be one of the aspects you talk about you know why they do so well they in a way I mean they've probably had pressure on themselves they put pressure on themselves but they are they expected are they they're rallies for win they weren't expected for winning 2019 they weren't really expected in 2015 because they didn't in 2000 they very needed in 2019 uh last time out in the Champions League they pushed India but again it was one of those games you kind of had the measure of them it wasn't that surprising look they could especially if if those haste records get going uh cypher and out on the top of the order but I would be I would be surprised if India don't win but it's t20 we've you know we we punted South Africa a lot than me and they were absolutely destroyed yesterday well I I was on a a New Zealand radio station

45:20this morning uh in Smith's show because he in Smith not there to commentate on either the semi-final or the final uh with his own team playing uh because his his son's wedding uh so he's he's doing the family duty and and missing uh another big moment in his country's uh cricketing career uh I'm definitely going to get him on though on Sunday whatever happens we'll get him on uh please get him on the game one way or the other and but anyway I said to these guys on on his show uh when they said who's going to win on Sunday I said well it's New Zealand's time so I'm I'm punting the New Zealand this time not going to get the reason I I love Indian cricket and you know fantastic uh but I just want New Zealand to sort of pull one out of the fire this time and and I got my black t-shirt on I wear I'll wear as some kind of news I've got a New Zealand t-shirt I'll wear it on Sunday and and just you know I just I not because it's ready for particular reason but I just I just love Kiwi so I think they're fabulous I love Indians too I love everybody

46:25Simon we'll finish with you Simon but tell me something for both of you I mean it is a fair to say the second favorite team of almost everyone would be New Zealand yeah well certainly not Australia not Australia well I'm a super English Australia uh I like Sri Lanka personally I mean I went there as a kid and played a lot of cricket there when I was really young and I love their spirit and their sort of ingenuity as cricketers and India as well I mean India is a special place it's special country and you know it's it's saved the game in many ways so I I love Asian countries styles of play actually yeah fair enough yeah you see them do well but I think it's it's about often it's about players you like so if you have a country where the player you like you you'd like to see them do well I mean that everyone is best in this for example you know you I mean Brian Lara you know it's just such a beguiling player to watch you you like to see them do well I noticed Doni was at the game today I mean I you can't go far from adoring the way he

47:29plays the game it's just absolutely remarkable listen anyway we're getting off the subject it's the final on Sunday it's India against New Zealand who would have predicted that well we certainly didn't uh but we're definitely going to be back after the game to review it and the tournament as a whole right lately how are we are we going to inspect our bet though what times are going to be in New Zealand we'll get him out of bed he'll be watching only surely he I'm sure he would be watching come on get him one get him one yeah well we're really looking forward to it uh let's look well let's hope it's a close game there's something neither semi-file was that close to though today's game had a sort of degree of closeness about today's game actually all the bowlers should be going and having physio on their necks today because they're staring upwards into the sky seeing their balls sailing into the orbit uh and into the stands a tough day for bowlers perhaps on Sunday it'll be a slightly better day for the bowlers that aren't anyway we'll be back then to see what happens what entails in the final of the T20 World Cup

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