Brook hails ‘brilliant’ Banton as England back on track at T20 World Cup
KOLKATA, India (AFP) — England Captain Harry Brook paid tribute to Tom Banton who starred with the bat to guide England to a five-wicket win over Scotland on Saturday that got their T20 World Cup campaign back on track.
Banton, who had been out for two against both Nepal and the West Indies in earlier Group C matches, came in with England wobbling at 13-2 chasing 153, but carried his side to finish 63 not out in their 155-5.
“He was awesome. It was a brilliant innings,” Brook said.
“He’s obviously matured as a player, as we’ve seen tonight [with] the way he’s chased that down there single-handedly, with a couple of cameos from [Jacob] Bethell and Sam [Curran].
“He played it beautifully.”
Brook said Banton is now able to alter his approach to the game and the conditions — the hallmark of a good player.
“Everyone in the world knows he’s got a very good reverse sweep so he’s had to adapt his game a little to hit it in different areas, because they try to stop him from hitting that shot,” Brook said.
Scotland’s modest total was looking to be more tricky than England would have liked as they crawled to 54-2 off eight overs in reply.
Banton then launched Mark Watt for three towering sixes in a ninth over that cost the Scottish spinner 22 runs, following which the pressure eased, and thereafter the result was rarely in doubt.
“He’s a powerful player. He’s got long levers. He can hit the ball out of any ground, and he’s shown that tonight,” Brook said.
“He was saying he felt like Mark Watt, at that time, was his matchup, so he fancied trying to take him down.
“And that’s a good sign in the middle of the battle, when you feel like you’re on top and your matchup comes on and you really hit them home.
“He did that perfectly tonight.”
Brook said Banton is growing into the number four batting slot.
“He’s good against spin, and he can hit it all the way around the ground,” Brook said.
“So it is the ideal position for him going forward.”
Brook’s side fell to the West Indies in Mumbai on Wednesday in Group C and could not afford another defeat against Scotland if they were to keep progress to the Super Eights in their own hands.
But now a win against Italy on Monday in their final Group C match at Eden Gardens will see England safely through.
