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In yet another shambolic and reckless batting display, England was wiped out for 179 runs in their final league stage ICC Champions Trophy match against South Africa at Karachi on Saturday, that highlighted a big issue with their batting that has gone awry after the days of former captain Eoin Morgan which changed the way Three Lions played their white-ball cricket.
A powerful spell by lanky pacer Marco Jansen (3/39 in seven overs) left England without their top order within the first seven overs. A statistic has emerged that proves only one thing: England has retained the philosophy of bold and attacking cricket of their World Cup-winning skipper Morgan, but the execution has been missing for the most part. Since 2024-start in ODIs, England has been absolutely reckless in their first ten overs of batting. While the first powerplay encourages teams to take risks and make use of batting-friendly conditions and fielding settings to have a hit, the Three Lions seem to have abused this freedom too much. Within the first ten overs of their batting in ODIs since 2024, England has attacked 51.6 per cent of times, losing 23 wickets while averaging just 27.73. A key player behind this reckless attacking is perhaps their opener Phil Salt, who has scored just 30 runs in three innings during this Champions Trophy and averages 31.87 after his first 31 innings in ODIs, during which he has made 988 runs with a century and five fifties at a strike rate of 114.75. England has performed way better while rotating the strike in the first ten overs, doing it 24.5 per cent of times and losing just three wickets at an average of 56.33. While England is vulnerable to playing too recklessly, they have also showcased a defensive style 21 per cent of times, throwing away three wickets at an average of 7.66. While attempting no shots 1.9 per cent of times, they do not lose a wicket. Of the 20 teams, they have played the highest percentage of attacking shots in this phase, and the lowest in terms of balls defended or no shot offered, as per Cricbuzz. England is among three teams to have scored at over run-a-ball in this phase (6.07) alongside India (6.83) and Australia (6.78). However, their average of 29.31 is the second lowest among the eight teams participating in this competition, after Bangladesh (27.36), and less than half of the best (India's 68.37). During this ongoing match as well, England lost Salt (eight runs in six balls, with two fours), Duckett (24 in 21 balls, with four boundaries) and Jamie Smith (0 in three balls) to reckless shot-making and were reduced to 37/3 in 6.4 overs. A 62-run stand between Joe Root (37 in 44 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Harry Brook (19 in 29 balls, with three fours) offered England a temporary moment of respite. Skipper Jos Buttler (21 in 43 balls) and Jofra Archer (25 in 43 balls, with four boundaries) tried to fight it out for England, but they were skittled out for just 179 in 38.2 overs. Mulder (3/25) and Keshav Maharaj (2/35) were also impressive with the ball, while Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada took a wicket each. In his 66th ODI, Ngidi became the 12th player from Proteas to reach 100 ODI wickets, the second-fastest Proteas bowler to do so in terms of balls taken, having taken 3,048 balls as in comparison to Morne Morkel (2,859 balls). (ANI)
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