It is a case of one down, one to go in England’s pair of quasi-World Cup quarter-finals. Having restored confidence with a muscle-flexing victory against India, Eoin Morgan’s side meet New Zealand in Chester-le-Street on Wednesday looking to cement their place in the final four.
There is little question that the centurion Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy combining for a 160-run opening stand – and Ben Stokes lighting the afterburners with a 54-ball 79 – provided the foundation on which Sunday’s 31-run win at Edgbaston was built.
Morgan told his players to remember their methods in previously reaching No 1 in the rankings and this trio of batsmen certainly took heed, delivering purposefully for a total of 337 for seven that asked India to break the World Cup’s record chase in reply.
Nevertheless it would be remiss to ignore the role played by two of England’s bowlers who, despite a fine century from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s 66, managed to puncture enough holes in India’s batting to leave MS Dhoni and Kedhar Jadav struggling for boundaries at the end.
The five India wickets to fall in this successful strangulation job were shared by Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett, cricketers who seldom crave the spotlight yet over the course of England’s four-year project have become Morgan’s seam-bowling bankers.
Woakes first, whose three successive maidens at the start – during which came a smart caught and bowled to remove the opener KL Rahul – set the tone perfectly.
The player teammates have called “The Wizard” ever since a darts tournament in his under-19s days is now being referred to as “Mr Perfect” – and not just because of the impeccable haircut.
It relates instead to the 30-year-old’s polished all-round game, two facets of which came to the fore on the ground where, as a Warwickshire junior, he assisted the groundstaff during the 2005 Ashes Test.
As well as final figures of two for 58 that included the arguably match-sealing wicket of Sharma, caught behind for 102, there was also the spectacular catch in the deep to remove Rishabh Pant.
“I actually dived a little early and had to stretch a bit more,” Woakes said, in typically self-effacing fashion. The closest he came to a swell of the head was when told his face had been spotted on a flag in the audience at Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage that day. “That’s brilliant, delighted with that,” he replied, before quickly adding: “That’s embarrassing, actually.”
Plunkett, whose three for 55 on returning to the XI included the prized scalp of Kohli slicing to backward point, is a similarly ego-free England seamer.
It is a virtue to be this way during the current big-hitting era, even if the squad’s oldest campaigner had been quietly straining to play after sitting out four group games (including, notably, the defeats by Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia).
Plunkett, in for Moeen Ali on the day owing to the pitch and a short boundary, said: “We came into this World Cup ranked No 1 and, yes, we’ve had a few defeats. But people are allowed to beat you. People are chomping at the bit to play the best team in the world, so it is good we’ve had our kick up the backside.
“I’m at a point in my career where I don’t go into my shell [if not selected]. I don’t go away crying about it. You can feel frustrated but it’s sport. You’d rather someone be like that on the sidelines, than happy to be not playing. It’s about not showing it.”
By his own admission Plunkett is unsubtle in his approach. “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel or trying to get five for spit. My job is to smash out my length, mix my pace up and pick up crucial wickets” he said.
Morgan has said that, if the 34-year-old were a spinner, he would receive more plaudits for the consistent wicket-taking role he performs in the middle overs and you can see where he is coming from.
The question now, as England head to Plunkett’s first professional county, Durham, is whether this sentiment translates to an unchanged attack. After receiving said kick in the backside, the return to winning ways has given Morgan a headache.