The much-awaited ICC T20 World Cup is set to happen this year in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the tournament got postponed last year which was scheduled to happen in India. Due to the second wave of Covid-19, ICC decided to move the biggest international tournament of the 20-over format to the middle-east.
England, currently the number 1 T20 side in the world dominated Sri Lanka a few weeks ago in the limited over series, now they are level with Pakistan in the T20 series at home. After losing in the first T20 match, England won the second one by a big margin of 45 runs to level the three-game series 1-1 against Pakistan. After this series, England’s World Cup squad is likely to be announced.
What Was The Statement Made By Michael Vaughan About England’s Chances Of Winning The T20 World Cup?
Former England cricket team captain Michael Vaughan thinks England has a great chance of winning the T20 World Cup this year. This is because they have “absolutely everything covered”. Eoin Morgan’s side is currently number one in ICC T20 rankings.
They almost clinched the title in the last edition of the tournament in 2016. The English lost to West Indies in the final at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Carlos Braithwaite smashed four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes in the final over to win the second World T20 title for the West Indies. After that shock, Ben Stokes and England came back hard in the 2019 ICC cricket world cup and won it in the super over against New Zealand.
During the second T20 game against Pakistan, Vaughan stated in the commentary box that England are the favourites to win the World Cup this year. Vaughan, while commenting on the match, said, “England have put themselves in a great position. That is because they have got absolutely everything covered.”
After the defeat in the first game, England put a mammoth total of 200 after batting first in the second T20 international. England was without captain Eoin Morgan. Jos Buttler led the side and he led from the front. he scored a blistering knock of 59 runs off 39 balls.
Can The Three Lions Actually Do It After Winning The T20 Series Against Pakistan; Is It Coming Home?
There were other stars missing for England as well. The likes of Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran were rested for the game. He was ably supported by Moeen Ali (36 off 13) and Liam Livingstone (38 off 23 balls). England amassed 200 runs in their first innings. Pakistan in response started off brightly. That was with skipper Babar Azam (22) and Mohammad Rizwan (37) sharing a 50-run opening stand.
Once Azam fell in the powerplay, the entire batting order crumbled. They failed to take the pressure. They were eventually restricted to 155/9 in their chase. That was, despite some late fireworks from Shadab Khan. The third and deciding T20 of the series was lost yet again by Pakistan and the hosts won the series.
This will be a great chance for England to win consecutive ICC trophies. That is for the first time in their history. That is if they can win the T20 world cup this year in the UAE and Oman.
