Reverse Swing

England have lit up the World Twenty20 with a professional and well-planned victory over much fancied Sri Lanka. You need a victory, an upset like this to lift the interest in a tournament like World Twenty20 and England have provided that tonic to the fans of the game.
Now don't rule out England. I hope they pick up from here and become the dark horse of the tournament.
A lot of English players had told me about Alex Hales that he is very talented and can put the best attack in the world to sword. Mind you, he has proved that with a solid maiden hundred. He lifted England through a new Twenty20 record for the third wicket with more established Eoin Morgan. Morgan has been one of my favourite players. I have seen him for three years in the Indian Premier League with Kolkata Knight Riders. He is a different player, unlike copybook type players, always willing to do different things and his reverse sweep has added a new dimension to the game.
England's win proved that they had done their homework on the Lankan bowlers. They won a good toss and Stuart Broad did not think for a minute to send Sri Lanka into bat. I have noticed that there is more dew in Chittagong than in Dhaka and excessive dew on Thursday blunted Sri Lanka spinners. You need to adopt some clever tactics when the ball is wet but I don't think Lankan bowlers did that. Both spinners Mendis and Senanayake went for runs because they tried to spin the ball. When the ball is wet you just try to put it straight and pace bowlers needed to bowl across the seam. Forget the swing and movement but you would see it very rarely that fast bowlers bowl across the seam. If they do they overcome the effect of wetness.
England also did their home work against Lasith Malinga. They did not try to hit him but deflected him deftly. It was nice to see Ravi Boopara deflect Malinga to third man for two boundaries and that paid off.
It's often said that you overcome your lack of experience and lack of talent through hard work and planning and this England team have done that.
I hope other teams take a leaf out England's book. Upsets will further spice up this World Twenty20.

The writer is a former Pakistan cricket captain and one of the finest swing bowlers and currently a TV commentator and presenter