'We'll give them a tough time' - England face another trial by spin

ByMatthew Henry

BBC Sport journalist in Pallekele

England batters and spin bowling. It has rarely been pretty.

For every Joe Root, Kevin Pietersen or Graham Thorpe, there have been far more troubled by the tweakers.

England beat Sri Lanka by 51 runs on Sunday, meaning victory against Pakistan on Tuesday will secure a place in the semi-finals, but the issue that has dogged their batting throughout this T20 World Cup did not go away.

Four of England's top five were out to spinners. The other, Tom Banton, was run out.

And Pakistan used six different spinners in their match against India earlier in the tournament. They have bowled a higher percentage of spin than any other team.

England's problems have not gone unnoticed.

"They were struggling against the spinners," said batter Sahibzada Farhan.

"We have one of the best spin attacks. which has Usman Tariq, [Mohammad] Nawaz, Shadab [Khan], even Abrar [Ahmed] is one of the top spinners.

"I am confident we will give them a tough time."

England's issues against spin at this tournament are curious, given what had come before.

During the T20 series against Sri Lanka before this World Cup they lost only three wickets against spin across three matches.

Even in the one-day international series that preceded it, with many of the same players, they averaged 43.9 collectively against the turning ball.

However, those numbers have nose-dived on the biggest stage.

Overall, 21 of England's 38 wickets have fallen to spin - not a major disparity to the 17 against pace - but more significant have been the moments those dismissals have come.

There were four in succession against Italy in the group stage and before that six in a row through the middle in defeat by West Indies in Mumbai.

The Sri Lanka win was the third occasion England were unable to break from a stranglehold.

"We were very good in the bilateral series here against Sri Lanka, where we played spin," said spinner Liam Dawson in defence of his top order.

"We know we can bat a lot better than what we have batted. We've won games and that's the main thing."

An lbw dismissal to Dunith Wellalage means England's captain Harry Brook has been removed by spinners four times in a row at this World Cup.

Overall he now averages 19.1 against spin in T20 internationals, compared to 46.2 against the quicks.

Jacob Bethell, who played a horrible slog to fall to Maheesh Theekshana on Sunday, has got out to a spinner in every innings.

Jos Buttler was pinned in front by Wellalage, though he looked equally as troubled by the seamers.

Buttler, who has made three single-figure scores in a row, was the only player from the expected XI for Tuesday to train on Monday evening.

Given England rarely train when there is only one day between matches, that shows Buttler's struggle to find form.

Tuesday's match is again in Pallekele, where England have now won four T20s in a row in a matter of weeks. It is becoming a home far away from home in the Sri Lankan jungle.

The match will also be played on a fresh, unused pitch, which England will hope is more suited to clean-hitting. If not they, of course, have their own potent spin attack as Sunday's win showed.

But Pakistan's spin attack still looms large. It features 6ft 4in mystery spinner Usman Tariq, whose side-arm action and stop-start run-up is almost unique in world cricket.

It has been discussed at length throughout this tournament and Brook was seen mimicking his approach on Friday while England trained in the nets.

"It's just weird that he pauses more than anything," Bethell said last week.

"It's also interesting how they only use him after the 10-over mark.

"Maybe we try and put some pressure on them and see if they want to bring him on earlier - that might mess him up a bit."

Banton is the only England batter to have faced Tariq before, having done so at the ILT20. He was dismissed by the lanky spinner and afterwards appeared to question the legitimacy of his bowling action.

The insights of Sam Curran, Tariq's ILT20 captain, and Buttler and Luke Wood, who played with him in the Abu Dhabi T10, may be useful.

England should know what is coming.

A threat they have rarely nullified stands between them and a World Cup semi-final.