Alastair Cook bears more than a snifter of a resemblance to the Man of Steel star Henry Cavill. But neither Cook nor anyone else in a red outfit was the superman England needed to win them the Champions Trophy Final last night.
The real superhero was 120 miles away from Edgbaston in Headingley, where Kevin Pietersen spent his Sunday monstering 177 not out in his comeback innings for Surrey against Yorkshire in the County Championship.
England have proved a lot about their one-day chops during the last two-and-a-half weeks of weather-bitten one-day tournamenting. They bowled craftily, accurately and stingily.
They proved that a relatively conservative batting strategy — with emphasis on patient accumulation at the top of the order from the solid if not stirring triumvirate of Cook, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott — was good enough to get to the final.
They beat Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, all of them in convincing fashion.
But against India yesterday they could dearly have used a fit and belligerent Pietersen in the middle order: an experienced batsman capable of the merciless plunder that changes short-form cricket in the space of two or three overs.
There are many fine players eligible for England’s one-day side but only Pietersen is really able to play the role that Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum or Virat Kohli perform for their countries.
England have proved that they can win matches without Pietersen. But they struggle to bully opponents, which is why this month they could not become world beaters. Cook said, with amusing understatement, that he was “a bit devastated” not to have been able to chase down 130 in 20 overs to beat India yesterday.
“A bit” devastated? I suppose that’s like having been ‘mildly’ run over by a double-decker bus. The filthy glower on the captain’s face as he sat on the balcony and watched the run chase blow up told a rather different story.
Five runs, even in a truncated 20-over bash, is not a lot by which to lose a trophy. And the panic tsunami that washed over England in the final overs of their run chase was a woeful thing to behold.
Read More
That said, it would have been very hard on India had they not won this year’s competition. They have been very obviously the best side since the beginning of the tournament.
For the final their supporters turned Edgbaston into a wet and chilly outpost of Mumbai, an impression reinforced by the work of the ground staff, who prepared a pitch that suited the Indian spinners very nicely.
At least, for England, that will be the last they see of that for a while. Ignoring the silly and pointless Twenty20 series against New Zealand, this summer is now about the Ashes. It will be partisan English fans rocking Test match grounds from hereon in.
And, all being well, a back-to-form KP who is entertaining them. That combination should be enough to help Cook and company get over falling just short of superhero status in yet another one-day tournament.
Twitter @dgjones
