Defeat, but no disgrace

TWENTY20 can be a brutal game. On Friday it was Umar Gul who suffered a dreadful and decisive over as Eoin Morgan smashed England to victory and yesterday it was debutant Ajmal Shahzad's turn to feel despair.

With two overs remaining and 17 runs needed by Pakistan, he offered up two full-length yorkers that went for a single and a two and then he surprisingly gambled on a slower ball that was ill-advised and poorly executed. Abdul Razzaq smashed it high over long-off. It killed England's hopes and when he lofted another into the stands it sealed a thrilling win and ensured the two-match WorldCall series was drawn.

England should be heartened, though. Their performances over the two matches were vastly superior to last summer's embarrassment when they were defeated by Holland. Here they have defeated and narrowly lost to the world champions and more importantly proved that they are a competitive side.

Much of that is due to Kevin Pietersen regaining some form and his innings yesterday set up a decent England total and was of a swifter, more explosive style than his supportive role on Friday. With Morgan he offers England hope in every match but what became obvious in Dubai was the need for a radical rethink on the rest of the top order.

The opening partnership of Joe Denly and Jonathan Trott is appalling. Neither has the strength nor range of shot to attack bowlers at the start of the innings. When they do it is often without control and therefore fraught with risk.

There is a ready made solution and team director Andy Flower has already gone some way to implementing it by promoting Craig Kieswetter to the one-day squad for the tour of Bangladesh. His selection means England also have a wicketkeeper so Matt Prior can be dropped and asked to concentrate on Test cricket.

Instead of Prior another batsman can be picked and importantly one that is a whirlwind in the field. One of Michael Lumb or Michael Carberry would do. This Hampshire duo are explosive batsmen, boundary hitters, swift between the wickets and excellent fielders. Actually Carberry patrolling the deep is one of the best fielders in the world and saves five to ten runs each match. In many games that would be the difference between victory and defeat.

Lumb was Kieswetter's partner when the Lions defeated England last week. The bold move would be to pick both, drop Denly and Trott and still have an option in replacing Prior. England's batting line-up would then read Kieswetter, Carberry, Pietersen, Morgan, Paul Collingwood and Lumb. Few could grumble with the quality or dynamism of those six and the fielding would be superb. The remaining five spots would be bowlers, with Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Luke Wright adding lower order ballast to the batting.

Contrast that line-up to the loss to Holland. Flower decided then England needed more energy, better fielding and more players to learn responsibility. If they could not fulfil all of these they were dropped, so decent players like Owais Shah, Dimitri Mascherenas and Rob Key were jettisoned. That is fine as the team looks sharper and a lot of that comes from the much more aggressive and quick fielding. It really can set a tone for a team, a couple of diving stops or a catch like Broad's diving one on Friday can change the momentum in an instant.

So that is the batting and fielding improved. What about the bowlers? They have the hardest job in Twenty20 cricket and are doing it well. Not every defeat can be blamed on them. Yesterday Graeme Swann was superb. He varied pace and was rewarded with three wickets including Shahid Afridi. The fear is smaller grounds would negate his effectiveness.

The seamers work well in the opening overs but need to develop more controlled bowling at the end when matches are won or lost. At the moment it is short stuff or slower balls. Low full tosses and yorkers would be preferable. This is no time for grumbling though. England looked impressive and could have won both matches. It is now time for Flower to cut some deadwood and reinvigorate the team.