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Following his side's loss to India in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup, England skipper Harry Brook hailed young batting all-rounder Jacob Bethell's fighting century, calling it a "phenomenal" effort and adding that he should be proud of his heroics over last few months, including a lone-warrior 154 at Sydney against Australia in the final Ashes Test.
Bethell's stock as an all-format superstar took a massive leap as with a 45-ball century against India during a tense run-chase of 254 runs from a situation of 95/4 kept England alive in the run-chase. Even after his 77-run stand for the fifth wicket with Will Jacks was undone, the batter continued to torment Indian bowlers alone, leaving England just seven runs short. Since his maiden ODI ton against South Africa in September last year, he has now completed a century in all international formats, becoming the fourth England batter to do so after Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Brook. His composure at the crease in such a high-stakes clash and a sense of authority in his shots against pace and spin alike stood out, making it an instant classic T20WC knock. Speaking during the post-match presser, Brook said on Bethell, "He is a phenomenal player, as we've seen tonight in a high-pressure situation against India on their home turf as well. The way that he played that innings was just phenomenal. Again, he should be extremely proud of what he has done tonight and this whole winter, and even into the back end of our summer, he has been unbelievable. He is going to have a hell of a career with England, and I am looking forward to hopefully spending a lot of time with him in the future." On his side's campaign, which did not saw them play a perfect game, but nonetheless eke out wins against Nepal (by four runs while defending 185), Italy (by 24 runs while defending 203), Sri Lanka (bundling SL out for 95 while defending a paltry 146), Pakistan (Brook's century single handedly chasing 165 runs with two wickets left) and New Zealand (chasing down 160 from 117/6) from tough situations, Brook expressed extreme pride, saying that he could not have asked for more as a captain. "I think we have had an amazing campaign, and I said the other day that we were never out of games and that was proven again tonight that we were in the game all the way until the last over, and yeah, I am just extremely proud of the boys and all the boys should be extremely proud of themselves as well," he signed off. Brook signed off with 235 runs in eight innings at an average of 29.37 and a strike rate of almost 160, with a century and fifty each, playing an important part as a batter and leader in his side's campaign. Put to bat first, a fiery knock from Sanju Samson (89* in 42 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and cameos from Shivam Dube (43 in 25 balls, with a four and four sixes), Ishan Kishan (39 in 18 balls, with four boundaries), Hardik Pandya (27 in 12 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (21 in seven balls, with three sixes) took India to 253/7 in 20 overs. Despite having England down at 95/4, India could not dominate them as Jacob Bethell (105 in 48 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes) and Will Jacks (35 in 20 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) put a counter-attacking 77-run stand for the fifth wicket. Bethell continued to march on even after Jacks' dismissal and a fiery four-ball cameo of 19 from Jofra Archer took England really close, but not to the finishing line, ending at 246/7. (ANI)
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