Nasser Hussain
Cricket expert and columnist
'England must find lateral movement to quieten Chris Gayle '
Last Updated: 02/04/16 2:14pm
England's seamers must exploit any lateral movement on offer in Sunday's World Twenty20 Final against West Indies to boost their chances of keeping Chris Gayle in check, says Nasser Hussain.
Gayle smote an unbeaten century as West Indies powered their way to a six-wicket victory over Eoin Morgan's men in Mumbai, swelling his world record of T20 international sixes to 98.
Left-armer David Willey looked dangerous at the start of that match, dismissing Johnson Charles for a duck, but didn't bowl a single ball to Gayle in his first two overs.
By the time he returned to the attack in the 16th over, Gayle had his eye in and hit him for 16 off four balls.
"What you need against the West Indies batsmen is lateral movement, otherwise the likes of Gayle just hit through the line and if he gets going, there'll be plenty of atmosphere," said Hussain.
"West Indies are not a one man show, as India found out in the semi-final; even if you get Gayle early there are other guys who can come in and hurt you.
"Gayle got away from David Willey's end in that first match; Willey was swinging the ball beautifully but Gayle never got down to his end.
"If it's gun-barrel straight to Gayle, as it was in Mumbai, he's outstanding at hitting through the line whereas he'll find it tougher if Willey is swinging it here.
"Look at how Kagiso Rabada and Jasprit Bumrah got him out, bowling full and straight at the stumps.
"Then if he does get in, bowl wide at him; England's seamers did that very well the other day against the New Zealand batsmen - Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes bowled those wide yorkers."
"However, West Indies are not a one-man side - it's not a case of 'get Gayle out, win the game', something they proved against India when their guys in the middle order got a hit.
"That's why [West Indies captain] Darren Sammy is confident."
England, who have played their last three games in Delhi, will encounter vastly different conditions for Sunday's final at Eden Gardens and while Hussain says it's too early to say with any certainty how the pitch will behave, he reckons Morgan might name an unchanged line-up at the toss.
"It's completely different from Delhi, which had a little bit of pace, but I think there will be a little bit of grass on the surface," he said.
"England will be happy with that as it means they don't have to change their plans and can stick with their seam attack and two spinners.
"If it was an absolute spitting cobra, though, they'd have to think about bringing in Liam Dawson, their third spinner, to make his debut in a World Cup final."
Hussain added: "I think both captains [Eoin Morgan and Sammy] are very relaxed individuals.
"They aren't going to be putting pressure on their teams and say: 'Do you know how important this game is, how many people are watching and what it means to the country?'
"They will be the polar opposite, trying to make out it's just another game of cricket, even though it's a little bit more than that. It will come down to how many gun players in your side perform on the day.
Watch the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 Final between England and West Indies live on Sky Sports 2 this Sunday from 1.30pm. Before then see if West Indies Women can overcome Australia Women in the Women's World Twenty20 Final, live on Sky Sports 2 on Sunday from 9.30am.
