Plunkett revels in the middles

Liam Plunkett is not a name that would readily come to mind when talking about the players that have been instrumental in bringing England to the final of the 2019 World Cup. But his quiet success -- he brought his wickets tally to 11 from seven matches while taking three for 42 in the final against New Zealand yesterday -- is the perfect illustration of how England have thrived through players being assigned clearly defined roles. The success of the 34-year-old Plunkett -- who has evolved over a stop-start career since debuting in 2005 -- is a microcosm for England’s evolution into perhaps the best one-day side in 2019.

Jofra Archer’s 20 wickets and Chris Woakes’s 19 have cornered the attention, but Plunkett’s contributions have been just as valuable, and he chose the perfect time to showcase it yesterday.

Plunkett’s role has been to bowl in the middle overs when teams consolidate for the big assault in the death overs. He has not only restricted the opposition, conceding runs at 4.85 an over, but all of his 11 wickets have been those of top-order batsmen. Taking wickets in the middle overs is possibly the hardest because batsmen are settled and, with the field spread, undue risks are rarely taken. He has only taken one wicket past the 40th over -- that of India’s Hardik Pandya in the 45th over in their league match at Edgbaston -- and the rest have been of settled batsmen in the middle overs.

He took the all-important wicket of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson after the classy batsman had reached 30 from 54 balls. In the 23rd over, he had bowled a seam-up delivery that held its line after pitching on off stump and Williamson played that to short cover. The next ball was a cross-seamer which landed in roughly the same area and had a bit of extra bounce, which undid the settled batsman.

Plunkett then set up half-centurion Henry Nicholls in the 27th over. Bowling back-of-a-length deliveries outside off stump for the first three balls, the third of which Nicholls drove for three through covers. In the fifth ball, Nicholls was again ready for the ball outside off stump, but another cross-seamer on the stumps that swerved back in had the left-hander playing on.

It was the cross-seamer again that accounted for Jimmy Neesham, also when the left-hander was looking good for a meaningful innings that would take New Zealand to a formidable score.

Plunkett started as a fast-medium bowler, then reinvented himself in 2014 as an out-and-out quickie, and then reinvented himself in his current form as a middle-overs bowler who can keep even settled batsmen guessing with his subtle variations.

That is also how England’s cricket has evolved over the past four years. They have identified the skills of every player -- be it Woakes’s movement with the new ball, the pace of Archer and Mark Wood as well as the former’s deceptive slower balls at the death, the attacking intent of leg-spinner Adil Rashid -- and gave them roles tailor-made for them, which in turn allowed them full expression.

In doing so, England developed into a bowling unit that comes close to matching the prowess of their batting unit, and they did it almost under the radar. Just as Plunkett was instrumental in pushing New Zealand back at crucial junctures yesterday, England’s success would owe much to the role definition that the veteran pacer benefited from.