Jacob Bethell’s Dazzling 100 in Defeat Nearly Stuns India

Jacob Bethell lay flat, face down, on the red-soil pitch at Wankhede. His bat was face up, Bethell having lost his grip when he threw himself forward, like a swimmer taking a plunge, nearly two or three feet forward, trying to beat Hardik Pandya’s throw from long-off as he tried to complete two runs on the first ball of the final over of the semifinal, with England needing 30 runs from six balls.

That was the only mistake Bethell committed – not being proactive enough to turn back faster and finish the two to keep the strike and keep England’s hopes alive – in an otherwise impeccable innings, the best in the match. As Bethell lay there, helmet on, arms outstretched, feet flayed, Wankhede erupted. Hardik celebrated, nearly gyrating near the boundary, as Sanju Samson broke the stumps. Even Jasprit Bumrah, in an uncharacteristic act, bared his emotions, screaming in relief, metres from where Bethell lay, before he picked himself up and walked off, defeated.

The Impeccable Innings

Till then, Bethell had rattled India with an innings of bravado, intensity and high craft against the best bowling attack at the World Cup. Harry Brook had committed himself early to Bumrah’s very first ball, a slower, which Brook could only play with hard hands to Axar Patel, who took the first of two spectacular catches on the night, both nominees for best catches of this World Cup. England’s most dangerous batter was out and their hopes were extinguished, most people believed, including some experts on the broadcast.

The Powerplay Statement

On the second ball he faced, Bethell, who replaced Brook, punished Bumrah for bowling down the leg side with fine leg inside the circle with a powerful flick for six. But it was what he did in the next over, the final over of the powerplay – also Varun Chakravarthy’s first over – that first suggested Bethell was on his way to doing something ridiculous.

The first three balls of the mystery spinner’s over were hit for sixes, the final one being among the most amazing you would see: a reverse lap over the point boundary. Such a high-skill stroke requires the batter to get into the proper position by switching his feet before doing the job with the bat: clobbering the ball out of the ground. All this without losing balance or shape. Bethell did it effortlessly.

In the next over, Bethell displayed his innovative stroke play once again as he quickly jumped into an open-chested position and then reverse lapped Hardik over the short-third fielder for four. Varun changed ends for his second over, placing a deep backward point to guard the reverse sweep, which Bethell is happy playing. Bethell stayed deep in his crease and lofted Varun for a six over long-on first delivery. Next ball, spotting Varun go wide of the crease from around the stumps, Bethell backed away to access the empty region behind cover by playing with a straight elbow and full bat face, bringing those wrists into play.

On match eve, Sam Curran had said that England would know they were doing well if the crowd fell silent. For large parts of England’s innings after Bethell’s arrival, the crowd was silent. While Will Jacks and Curran provided robust support, Bethell was floating in a bubble where he read the bowler’s plan and reacted smartly while never once looking especially keen.

While the asking rate mounted rapidly against Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik in the final ten overs, Bethell was not deterred. Cutters, dipping yorkers, wide yorkers, slow bouncers, wide deliveries – he encountered all without batting an eyelid. In his final over, Arshdeep bowled a slower delivery lofted over mid-off for six. A wide yorker followed, but Bethell stayed in his crease to stretch outside off to send the ball racing to deep third, moving six short of a century.

Samson, the second best batter of the game, doffed his hat to Bethell. “T20 cricket is going somewhere else – no one can understand,” Samson said. “We knew they [England] would go hard at us in the powerplay but when three wickets fell in that phase then I thought, okay now the game is in our control. But the way Bethell batted, I felt no, it’s still possible. They needed 13 runs an over. They were getting two boundaries every over. It was getting very easy for them in the middle overs.”

For Brook, Bethell’s knock was “ridiculous“. “He was in his own bubble and it’s an amazing feeling,” Brook said. “You feel like you could hit nearly every ball for six, and it was one of those innings tonight that he’s pulled off.”

Bethell is the first England player to score a century in the Ashes and a T20 World Cup. Both centuries came in defeats. On both occasions, Bethell was mostly on his own. He is 22 but was not fazed.

Brook said Bethell would earn serious money in his career. No money can buy a World Cup medal. Bethell nearly got England closer to the final until he ran himself out, finishing on the floor, on his face.

Read More: Jasprit Bumrah’s 18th Over Ends England’s World Cup Dream

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