With a spectating get over the USA, England have increased their chances of drawing a pick.
After the anguish of England's exit from a problematic group-stage situation, Jos Buttler's men have become the primary side through to the T20 World Cup semi-finals, with a terrible ten-wicket dispatching of USA in Barbados. And it was the skipper himself who capped the fee with a six-laden 83 certainly out from 38 pellets that could still secure his team a favourable pick in the finishers.
England needed to win in 18.4 overs to guarantee that their net run rate vaulted above that of the current Group 2 leaders, South Africa, thereby ensuring their progression no matter what happens in what has now become a de facto quarter-final between South Africa and West Indies in Antigua tonight.
But, Buttler admitted that his team had come out with a more optimistic target in mind- defeat in 10. 5 wickets which would consider them above West Indies ' present NRR of 1. Given that it is based on their own detailed battle of the USA in Bridgetown on Friday, the number is likely to decline regardless of the outcome.
" Yeah, it was, completely," Buttler said at the post-match demonstration, when asked if the top of the group was their final goal. England have a chance to avoid the in-form India as they try to defend the title they won in Melbourne in 2022 after Afghanistan's victory over Australia on Saturday large open Group 1.
" You've got to earn the right to start with, to try and get in, and then once we got through a few overs, we were really trying to target the [short ] side with the wind," he added. " We paid the USA a lot of value but, when we came around, we talked a bit about our power. If we could take that on the industry, we thought we'd be very good. "
England proved that with an assertive show with, first game, and then bird. With two for 13 in four boundary-less innings, Adil Rashid again had to be their star man, before Chris Jordan took the win, who took four innings in five balls, including an innings-sealing hat-trick in front of his friends and family in the area of his baby.
" They were beautiful," Buttler said of his spinner, Rashid and Liam Livingstone, who finished with 1 for 24 in his own four innings, having bowled only three in full in the whole of England's plan to time.
" Adil has been amazing all the way through," Buttler added. " And I thought Livie bowled beautifully as well in parallel. They created a lot of force, and created innings. Some guys do n't get it easy for us sometimes; in one game, they do n't bowl at all and then Livie bows four overs today. So, congratulations to him for being prepared and using really good skill. "
Jordan has occasionally played in England's lineup, but he was preferred to Mark Wood in a setting where extraordinary speed had proved costly in the tournament's first matches. And it turned out to be an inspired choice, as Jordan consistently landed his inswinging yorkers on top of the USA's tail after a strong first two innings with an inspired second.
" I think we've got great options," Buttler said, with Sam Curran's left-arm swing also picking up two wickets to cement his own return to England's first-choice XI.
With his all-round abilities and our knowledge of his ball-handling abilities, we wanted to bring CJ back in to give the batting line-up a little bit of depth. He executed fantastically well, and a World Cup hat-trick is a great effort. "
Perhaps the most important aspect of England's victory, however, was Buttler's own surging display with the bat, given how important his runs will be to the team's title hopes come the final two matches of the tournament.
After a previous tournament top-score of 42 against Australia, also in Barbados, Buttler powered to his half-century from 32 balls with a lofted six over long-off from Harmeet Singh, then added four more in as many legitimate deliveries, to hunt down England's victory target of 116 in just 58 balls.
" It was really important," he said, of his innings, which finished with a similar flourish to his purple patch of form for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL in April. " I've been feeling good all year, to be honest. You do n't always get the results but, now, I feel like I'm hitting the ball well and it's nice to get the confidence.
" It's important to look after my own game as well," he added. I'm still one of 11, even though you're trying to be captain and have a point of view. I've got to do my job. "
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