- England 131 for six after 16.1 overs
- Banton hits 71 off 42 balls before rain arrives
England do not have a dearth of players capable of opening the batting in white-ball cricket and after a blistering innings of 71 from Tom Banton on Friday night the list has lengthened. He cleared some of the longest boundaries in the country five times in the first of three T20 internationals and he did so in a manner that eluded the other batsmen on an Old Trafford surface that has spent most of the last few days under the covers. Sadly those covers soon returned along with the rain after England had scored 131 for six from 16.1 overs and it declined to go away in time to produce any sort of match. They will try again on Sunday.
Banton played against Ireland in the recent 50-over matches, scoring one half-century in the middle order, after which he admitted that he found it a strange and tricky experience batting there since the majority of his success at county level against the white ball has been as an opening batsman for Somerset. He would not have been opening here but for the side strain acquired by Jason Roy earlier in the week.
Written by Vic Marks
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/aug/28/tom-banton-england-twenty-20-pakistan-washout-report under the title “Tom Banton smashes way into England T20 reckoning in Pakistan washout”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
