Jofra Archer’s case to be included in England’s World Cup squad is already strong, and if ever a game highlighted the power of extreme pace in ODI cricket – an asset Archer and few other Englishmen possess – it was this one.

Chief architect of their demise was Oshane Thomas, raw enough to not have a five-wicket haul in professional cricket before today, but potent enough to claim 5-21 and set in motion a staggering collapse of 5-2, from 111-5 to 113 all out.

[caption id=”attachment_99761″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Jofra Archer’s speed could be an important asset for England[/caption]

Archer’s World Cup case received a further boost from England head coach Trevor Bayliss, who suggested England’s upcoming series against Pakistan could give him the chance to prove himself in international cricket, ahead of the summer’s tournament.

“We’ve got to have the squad in by April 23, but there’s a month after that to change it,” Bayliss said. “There’s the Pakistan series before then, so we’ll have discussions about whether he plays, because the absolute final date [for the squad] is May 22.

“We’d like it to be as close as it can be [to the final 15], but we could try someone like Jofra in those matches and make a decision one way or another.”

It was also a game that highlighted that England aren’t quite the masters of one-day cricket that some proclaim them to be, and Bayliss rued his side’s inability to adapt to tough, pacy conditions.

[caption id=”attachment_99760″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Wood was one Englishman who acquitted himself well[/caption]

“It was a poor performance,” he said. “There were some woeful shots, and obviously after that we were never in the game. We didn’t adapt at all. We found during the Test series that the bouncier wickets were our Achilles’ heel, we don’t often get to play on too many bouncy wickets in England, and it’s certainly not a strength of ours.

“With 200 on the board, we’ve have been right in the game. We needed a couple of guys to get their heads down, whether that meant letting balls go for 10-15 overs and building a partnership. We could have got there, but we kept on making the same mistakes.”

England’s inability to play pace was made all the more frustrating by the fact that they no longer have as much problem delivering it, as Mark Wood showed in a rapid opening spell. There were question marks over his place coming into this series, but he has surely dispelled those now.

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“It’s great that he’s free of injury,” said Bayliss. “We are seeing some of the best of him and what’s he’s capable of when he’s free of injury. It’s exciting for Mark and English cricket, but we’ve got to make sure we look after him.”