Mumbai: How often can a cricketer take a hat-trick against his own team? England pacer David Willey did during the warm-up match between the visiting team and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) XI at the Cricket Club of India, Brabourne Stadium here on Monday. The speedster bowled at his countrymen (representing Mumbai) as England beat the hosts by 14 runs.
Renowned cricket writer Neville Cardus once said: “There ought to be some other means of reckoning quality in this the best and loveliest of games; the scoreboard is an ass.” The result of the match, leading up to England’s opener against West Indies in the ICC World Twenty20 on Wednesday, isn’t the highlight; rather England fielding four of their men for Mumbai is a talking point.
Apart from Willey, Joss Buttler, James Vince and Adil Rashid donned the local jersey.
Read: India lose in warmup but MS Dhoni wins
England batted first and ended at 177/8. Willey dismissed Joe Root (48), Moeen Ali (1) and Chris Jordan (0) in back-to-back deliveries for his hat-trick.
Chasing a target of 178, Mumbai started at a brisk pace with Jay Bista and Shreyas Iyer. The duo added 57 runs for the first wicket.
Iyer – considered an upcoming prospect after his IPL exploits for Delhi Daredevils last season – disappointed as he fell to Liam Plunkett for 16.
Bista kept hammering the English bowlers all over the park and reached his half-century in 35 balls.
He didn’t last long. Moeen Ali soon removed him leaving Mumbai at 95 for the loss of two wickets when Joss Buttler came out to bat.
He joined the ruthless Vince (from Sussex) and the process to narrow down the difference between run and ball began.
Vince showed no respect for his teammates as he continued the assault left incomplete by Bista. After four fours and a six off Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan ran through his defense. He scored 45 off 38 balls.
On the other hand, T20 specialist Buttler kept the scoreboard ticking with cheeky singles and boundaries. As soon it looked that he would hit one to the stands, Jordan kissed his stumps. His innings of 25 off 16 looked promising but his departure dragged the game to the last over which tested Rashid’s batting acumen. With 22 required off the last over, he fumbled in pressure and gave an easy catch to Reece Topley (2/26).
England, batting first, Jason Roy (32) and Alex Hales (37) toyed with the local bowlers for a 69-run opening stand in 6.3 overs before Roy fell to compatriot Rashid caught by Iyer.
Though he failed with the bat, Rashid had a brilliant day with the ball. He also caught Hales off his own bowling and helped MCA run skipper Eoin Morgan (11) out.
Brief scores: England 177/8 in 20 overs (J Root 48, A Hales 37; D Willey 3/35) beat MCA XI 163/6 (J Bista 51, J Vince 45; R Topley 2/26) by 14 runs.
