Our batting was below par: Broad
First Published : 24 Sep 2012, 00:35
Last Modified : 24 Sep 2012, 00:35
Colombo, Sep 23: England’s good run in the 2012 ICC World T20 was brought to a screeching halt by MS Dhoni and co, as they bowled the defending champions out for their lowest total in Twenty20 cricket. Clueless against the Indians’ spin attack, the Stuart Broad-led side, lost to India by 90 runs at the R. Premdasa Stadium here today.
Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Broad reflected on the game and spoke of areas where his team could have done better.
Excerpts:
On the target and the way the match panned out
We were pretty happy with [restricting India to] 170. We made a few mistakes in the field. We didn’t hit the straps as well as we could have done. We didn’t get it right with the bat at all, and India got it very right and they bowled really nicely.
On whether they bowled a bit short at times and whether India played the short ball better
No not really. We probably didn’t hit the length too well too early with the new-ball […]. And we were happy with 171-run target. We probably weren’t as efficient as we could have been. We didn’t get it right with the bat. We played across the line too much whereas against Afghanistan when we played straight and hit cleanly.
On whether they should have played a second spinner
We were looking to balance our side, going forward […]. It was worth having a look and we will reassess the game.
On whether there being a lot of sixes and a lot of dot balls is a matter of concern
The dot balls started coming when we started losing a lot of wickets. We all know that in Twenty20 cricket you need your batsmen to bat and finish the game. Three-four wickets down early, we were chasing in the game, and India closed the game really well.
On whether England can’t play spin bowling
No. I have seen the guys play spin extremely well. We have been learning in Sri Lanka and we have developed well. We have had a really bad day today. We will get on the bus to Kandy tomorrow and hope to do great [in the matches ahead].
On the reason behind the poor performance today
We have had some pretty good performances for the two-and-half weeks that we have been together. But we have good performances, so we need to focus on them. We have got a job to do ahead and the guys confidence won’t take too much of a knock from this. […] Hope we can do well.
