England’s punt on Liam Dawson pays rich dividends

Liam Dawson’s inclusion in the Lord’s Test match raised a lot of eyebrows especially because of England’s preference of the left-arm spinner over Adil Rashid, who has captured 30 sticks in his last seven Test matches. The move, though, paid rich dividends as Dawson combined with Moeen Ali to take 14 wickets in the match collectively.

Both spinners were at the cynosure in the second innings when the ball started to turn viciously. South Africa, chasing an improbable 331 to win in the fourth innings, were scuffed up by the duo to be all out for a paltry 119 to award the host a huge 221-run win. Moeen (6/53) and Dawson (2/34) ran havoc as the Proteas had no answer to some crafty spin bowling. Moeen Ali picked 10 wickets in the match to go with his brisk 87 in the first innings and was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Great comeback by the home side

After being four down in the first session of the first day, England fought back remarkable to win the Test match inside four days. This was the first time in 24 years that England fielded two spinners at Lord’s. England coach Trevor Bayliss was pleased with the bowling attack and rated it highly on most Test surfaces. He said that Dawson was selected to support Moeen Ali, who wants to play in the side more of a batsman who can turn his arm over.

“That’s important for Mo more than anything,” Bayliss said. “He wants to be in the team as a batter who bowls a bit so we’ve selected him as a batsman and the second spinner. It doesn’t mean he can’t be the best spinner on a particular day. I thought Dawson did a very good role. Mo is an attacking type off-spinner and if it’s tight at one end, it allows him to attack at the other. Mo is a bit of a complex character at times. This Test was a sign that it was the way to go with him.”

‘Dawson offers control’

He defended the move of not including Rashid Ali as he thought more Rashid and Moeen are attacking bowlers and England wanted to go in with a bowler who offers more control hence picked Dawson who had a great match return of 4/101.

“As a combination, Rash and Mo are both attacking style spinners,” Bayliss said. “We just felt that if we could get someone who could control it a little better and hopefully be able to take some wickets, that could help set us up more long-term.

“The combination we had, from a bowling sense, in this match, you could pretty much pick it on any type of wicket. Daws has got the opportunity at the moment but there are a number of good young spinners out there at the moment. Rash himself is pushing hard,” said Bayliss

Dawson probably bowled the ball of the match to get the better of Hashim Amla, who is regarded as one of the best in the business.

England have got the best possible start in Root’s Test captaincy debut. With three Tests to go, the hosts would like to take an unassailable lead at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, the venue of the second Test which kicks off on Friday