In player of the tournament Sam Curran, and his bowling at the ‘death’, England found the final piece of the puzzle to make Jos Buttler’s side Twenty20 world champions. The quiet-spoken Curran booked England’s triumphant tournament in Australia with two of the finest spells seen in a T20 World Cup. He took 5-10 in 3.4 overs to beat Afghanistan for 112 in the first Super 12 match and then 3-12 from four overs in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, including the key wickets of Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood , to retain Pakistan back to 137-8.
At the latter, he was named player of the match in the final, a year after being a spectator when England’s Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes got 57 runs in the last three overs of a T20 World Cup semi-final. hand New Zealand victory.
And in 2016, he was a teenager watching TV when Ben Stokes failed to handcuff Carlos Brathwaite, who clubbed four consecutive sixes to death in the final in Kolkata to give the West Indies their second T20 World Cup win.
Now his laser-accurate left arm swing, along with a deceptively fast shorter ball, cutters and clever tempo changes, is the answer to England’s bowling prayers.
“To be honest, I’m a bit lost for words, it was a great tournament,” said Curran as he took delivery of his trophies after taking a total of 13 wickets.
“First time for me in a World Cup and we won it. I wanted to adapt to the tournament.
“I haven’t bowled much at death yet and that’s an area I want to keep improving.”
– Cricket family –
Curran comes from a family of cricketers.
His late father Kevin was a Zimbabwean international all-rounder in the 1980s who played for Northampton and Gloucestershire in England’s county cricket. He went on to coach Zimbabwe.
His grandfather Kevin P. Curran played seven times for Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe used to be called, in the 1940s and 1950s.
The older brothers Tom, 27, and Ben, 26, are also talented cricketers, with Tom also representing England in all three formats and Ben making his first-class debut for Northamptonshire in 2018.
Sadly, Dad Kevin never lived to see his sons follow in his international footsteps when he collapsed and died while playing sports in 2012. He was just 53 years old.
Now Sam, who is also a powerful lower order batter with a test score of 78 and an ODI best of 95 not out, wants to emulate his father by becoming a true all-rounder like his teammate and hero Stokes.
“I want to improve my batting skills, although it’s difficult to get a shot in this line-up,” Curran smiled.
“I don’t think I should get this (player of the match award). I think the way Ben Stokes played there, to turn 50 in a final — and he does it so often for us — he should get this.
“He’s someone I look up to and who always shows up when the team needs him. People ask him questions, but there’s no doubt about him, he’s the man.”
‘Magnificently’
Pakistani batsman Masood threatened to take his team to a much bigger total on Sunday until he fell to Curran, for 38.
“I think Sam Curran has been top notch for a while,” Masood said as he paid tribute to England’s newest star.
“He’s just been brilliant. I think he’s been really smart. He watches the batter until late.
promoted
“He just doesn’t go to a certain predictable height. He can bowl a good Yorker. He’s got a decent bumper. He bowls with his knives and then even his length ball is a heavy ball.”
“When you see his form, you want to go up against him, but he’s that class bowler and I think he’s been in a class of his own in this tournament.”
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