Can England finally break the jinx?
They have been in finals before, they have played brilliantly on many occasions and they have been on the brink of winning their maiden title before, but England has never won an ICC event, ever. They have been beaten to the honor by teams like South Africa and New Zealand who won the first two editions of the ICC Champions Trophy in 1998 and 2000, and despite being strong and gifted, England is yet to hold a trophy.
England has reached the World Cup final in 1979, 1987 and 1992 and went home with the runners up trophy. On all three occasions, they were piped to the title by different teams. It was Clive Lloyd’s talented West Indies in 1979 at Lord’s, Allan Border’s unbelievable Australians in 1987 at Calcutta and Imran Khan’s fearless Pakistanis in 1992 at Melbourne.
But that doesn’t mean that the English were not well equipped in their finals. They had the services of Mike Brearley, Geoff Boycott, Graham Gooch, David Gower, Ian Botham and Bob Taylor in the 1979 World Cup, while Graham Gooch featured in the next two finals in 1987 and 1992 as well. Allan Lamb appeared in 1987 and 1992 alongside Gladstone Small, Philip DeFreitas whereas Ian Botham played his second final 12 years after 1979, but ended on the losing side.
And then there was the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 where hosts England were stunned in the grand finale by West Indies, that too at Lord’s. England had given the target of 218 to West Indies and had restricted them to 147 for 8, but Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw saw them through with a 71 run unbeaten ninth wicket partnership. English skipper Paul Collingwood is the lone survivor of that match, so none of the English players in this side have ever been in a final, something that will go against them.
If England is to win their maiden ICC event, they will have to bank on the newfound success of Eoin Morgan, the Irish import who has thrashed the bowlers from all over the world during his short career. He has so far scored 168 runs in the current Twenty20 World Cup and if he fires in the final, England might break the jinx. There is also another import the English might be looking forward to, his name is Kevin Pietersen and he is a class act.
The unorthodox master blaster has been in tremendous form and has torn apart bowlers with his attacking batting display. He has scored 201 runs in the tournament and if he is at his best when England takes field on Sunday, there is nothing than can stop England from taking the trophy. There are nearly four English batsmen have scored over 100 runs during the tournament. Besides Pietersen and Morgan, the list includes the opening pair of Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb with 159 and 135 runs respectively.
The English are a good bowling outfit as well, with players like Graeme Swann, Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart having a great time during the tournament. They have taken 25 wickets between them, with Swann leading the pack with 9 wickets. Paul Collingwood’s leadership skills will be tested in the grand finale, and if all goes well, England might once again rule the world!
The depth of the English batting can be judged from the fact that all-rounder Stuart Broad, who is no mug with the bat, has been to the crease just once. It might be a disadvantage for the English because their lower order hasn't been exposed to the conditions in the West Indies, but if the upper and middle order does its job well, who cares!
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