Euro 2020 was taking a rare off-day before its knockouts started. Anyone flicking through the channels on their television would have come across the 2nd T20I between England and Sri Lanka. This is a rare occasion in Great Britain, where the ECB had pushed all its home cricket behind the expensive paywall of the Sky network.
England, like other countries, is dependent on its social institutions to rope youngsters into playing the game. But there has been a growing divide between the ageing legacy fans of the sport and the youth.
The Hundred is a misconceived attempt at trying to rope in these newer generations and women into the sport. Because of many missteps made by the administration since the 2005 Ashes, urban private schools have become the only place to fall in love with the sport.
The lack of public infrastructure, inclusivity in the game, and free cricket to watch have thus manufactured a unique scenario where the sport has been pushed to the edges of the public conscience. Many British kids don’t even know how cricket is played, or why the elder generations speak of it with such reverence.
Yesterday’s match was the first international match being shown on the BBC this year. Imagine the surprise of the casual fans at home tuning in to the second T20, then, when they saw Sam Curran kicking the white ball into the stumps to run out Gunathikala. It must have reminded them of the football once again.
But anyone who stuck around after that dismissal would be disappointed, because there wasn’t much in the way of fireworks for the rest of the encounter. Kusal Mendis and Isuru Udana were the only ones who hit any boundaries at all during the Sri Lankan first innings. They limped to a total of 111/7. The run-out/goal pulled off by Sam Curran was the electric bit of cricket that seemed to have put an end to the contest before it even began.
The English batters had the potential of consoling viewers who had stuck around with a concise and explosive run chase – the kind they specialise in. But an impressive first shift from the Lankan bowlers only elongated the contest. The result was never in doubt, but 37/4 was quite a precarious position for them to be found in at the end of the seventh over.
Wanindu Hasaranga is one of the most potent white-ball spinners at the moment. He doesn’t have an extensive bag of tricks, but his consistency was on display for the second night in a row. The used pitch meant he had wickets to show for his economy. By the time his spell of 4-0-20-2 came to an end, the match threatened to turn into a proper contest.
In the end, though, a tight finish was never meant to be. Liam Livingstone and Sam Billings struggled to find their timing. Yet, the run rate was not an issue. They set themselves in for a partnership of 50 runs from 44 balls. Livingstone even played a ramp into the stands, which put an end to the last glimmer of hope for the Sri Lankans.
As with any game of cricket, there were plenty of narrative arcs to appreciate during the match. Hasaranga’s rise as a quality white-ball bowler was the highlight for the Sri Lankans. Sam Curran’s all-round exploits were rounded off with the six he hit off Dhananjaya to win the match. And the stars for both these sides were well-supported by the other cast members.
Liam Livingstone’s career has been as intriguing as they come. He’s spent four years since his international debut in the wilderness of franchise cricket and turned out to be one of the best all-rounders plying his trade around the globe.
Opportunities in the England eleven have been few and far in between for him. But with Malan’s form taking a dip, he might very well be a contender for the T20 World Cup’s first eleven. A convincing performance in the final match of the series and Morgan is likely to keep him around in the side.
Kusal Perera did his best to stage a recovery leading from the front during the first innings. But he perished in the quest for picking up the run-rate. A noble quest, but an unfulfilled one nonetheless. The 3rd T20 is going to be the last opportunity for his team to perform a course correction.
The potency of the English bowling has been exaggerated by their shot-making. So, a disciplined performance might be all it takes for them to come away from the series with a consolation win.
The casual viewers, on the other hand, would have had no idea of the context surrounding the game. In that respect, the format failed to live up to its hype last night. Not many converts will be filtering into the county grounds for watching the T20 Blast as a result of this encounter, but the final match of the series is going to be broadcast on free-to-air channels as well.
This will allow both the teams and the non-believers another chance to fall in love with the sport. The occurrence of a thriller is unlikely, but optimism must run parallel to the adrenaline rush of engaging with a sport as enigmatic as this – after all, isn’t this what cricket is all about ?
