ICC T20 World Cup 2022: "England Needed To Pitch The Ball Up Bit More Against Ireland" - Nasser Hussain

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain issued a strong warning to Jos Buttler’s side following their loss to Ireland in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.

A win over Afghanistan, while far from perfect, got their tournament up and running, but this defeat to Ireland by five runs has stopped them in their tracks and already they will be at a crossroads on Friday against Australia.

England followed the same game plan as Afghanistan match against Ireland, reckons Nasser Hussain

In his column for the Daily Mail, Hussain wrote, “On a bouncy pitch with the dimensions of the Perth Stadium it was fair enough to bowl short at Afghanistan but they appeared to have the same plan for Ireland at the MCG when what was needed was for England to pitch the ball up a bit more.”

“England did drag it back well in the second half of the Ireland innings and I thought Liam Livingstone and Wood himself were excellent. But the way England batted on this pitch showed that 157 was a pretty decent Irish total,” he added.

Match Highlights

England were unable to gather much momentum during their chase of Ireland’s decent total of 157 and will rue the fact they were five runs short of the par score when the rain hit late at the MCG.

The equation was 53 required from 33 deliveries when the players left the field and both teams would have been thinking they were well placed for victory when the heavens opened.

Classy all-rounders Moeen Ali (24*) and Liam Livingstone (1*) had just started to find the boundary with ease, while Ireland knew they were well placed and only had to hold their nerve to prevail.

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