The dismal Harry Brook moment that sums up England’s dire winter
India set England a mammoth target in the T20 World Cup semi-final – but it might have been so different
The moment England’s World Cup dream died must have felt like the biggest punch in the face Harry Brook has had this winter – and that’s saying something given his altercation with a bouncer in Wellington on the eve of the Ashes in late October.
It came two balls into the third over of this exhilarating contest when Sanju Samson mis-hit Jofra Archer straight to England’s captain at mid-on. It was the simplest of chances, with India seemingly set to be reduced to 24 for two.
Yet in a winter scarred by fielding calamities, Brook let the ball – and this World Cup semi-final – slip through his fingers.
Two balls later Samson, whose unbeaten 97 against the West Indies had edged the tournament co-hosts into the last four, pumped Archer into the third tier of the Wankhede Stadium for six.
It was as if a switch had been flicked, with the energy of Samson and a fervent Mumbai home crowd turned up to the max.
By the time he was eventually out one ball into the 14th over India’s total stood at 160 for three, with the opener hitting 89 of those runs from just 42 balls.
They ended up posting a colossal 253 for seven from their 20 overs, setting England a record chase in a T20 World Cup.
That Brook’s men got so close would have made the captain’s pain even more acute.
Jacob Bethell, the one salvation for England this winter, hit a remarkable 45-ball hundred to keep his team in the hunt until the final over. At the start of September, he had not scored a century in his professional career. Now he is just the fourth England player to have them in all three formats. And he’s just 22. Remarkable.
Despite that, it was the runs of Samson that ultimately proved decisive. He added 74 after Brook gave him a life. England’s margin of defeat was just seven. Agonising.
A flat Mumbai pitch made the deluge of runs inevitable. But the scorecard will still be harrowing reading for Brook’s bowlers, with the 19 sixes conceded the most by England in a T20 international.
Archer in particular was made to suffer – his one wicket for 61 the worst analysis of his international T20 career.
England were up against it from the start of the chase. Only three teams in any T20 had ever successfully hunted down targets in excess of 250.
And their attempt to silence the Mumbai crowd looked all but over when Brook was dismissed for seven by Jasprit Bumrah in the fifth over, cruelly the victim of a stunning catch in the deep from Axar Patel.
At 38 for two, England looked done. Yet Bethell’s stunning 105 from 48 balls kept an impossible dream flickering. The flame burned brightest during a rapid 77-run stand for the fifth wicket with Will Jacks.
Bethell was ultimately run out in a final over that started with England needing 30 to win. In truth, India always had too many runs to play with.
This wasn’t a train wreck of a defeat that had been the calling card of a winter that will always be defined by the shambolic Ashes campaign in Australia, the reckoning for which is coming in the weeks ahead.
Yet after riding their luck to get this far in the tournament, England can have no complaints about this result.
It might be simplistic to say that Brook’s drop sealed his team’s fate. But it’s true. His face when the TV cameras zoomed in on him at the start of the seventh over of India’s innings said it all. He looked haunted.
It’s ironic that England’s catching has vastly improved in this tournament compared to the Ashes, when they shelled 19 chances. Rehiring fielding coach Carl Hopkinson has helped, with England’s drop count before this semi-final standing at three compared to India’s 13.
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It’s just cruel luck that their fourth of this World Cup has ultimately cost them.
Brook must not be vilified for this. Lapses in concentration happen. Any criticism of him must also be set within the context of a six-month winter that has seen him spend just a week at home since departing for the white-ball tour of New Zealand in October.
Thankfully, Brook’s winter is now over. He will surely come back stronger for this experience.
The pain of this defeat, though, will cut even deeper given how close his team came to pulling off a remarkable heist.
