Watch: Against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge in 2016, Liam Plunkett hit a six off the last ball to tie an ODI.
Plunkett’s 135 ODI wickets came at 29.70 apiece. With 11 wickets at 24.72 and an economy of 4.85, he played key role in England’s maiden men’s World Cup triumph in 2019. Curiously, that tournament ended up being his last appearance for England.
Much less talked about is his clean hitting in the format. While batting at eight or nine for almost his entire career, Plunkett struck at 103. Since the 2015 World Cup, when England changed their approach towards limited-overs cricket, that shot up to 132.
Over this period, he hit 32 fours and 12 sixes in 251 balls – a rate more frequent than once an over – the most iconic of which came that Trent Bridge ODI.
England bowled first, and reduced Sri Lanka to 120-4 before Angelo Mathews (73) and Seekkuge Prasanna (59) took them to 286-9. England then became 30-4 against Lakmal (2-65) and Angelo Mathews (2-22), but they did not stop hitting.
Eoin Morgan led the way with a 49-ball 43. Sri Lanka struck twice more, but from 82-6, Jos Buttler (93 in 99 balls) and Chris Woakes (95 not out in 92) added 138 to keep England in the hunt. Plunkett emerged at No.10 when England needed 52 in 26 balls.
That became 49 in 24, then 40 in 18, then 30 in 12. England took 16 off the 49th over, bowled by Lakmal, and Nuwan Pradeep had to defend 14 in the last over.
Pradeep began well, conceding four off the first four balls, bringing the equation to ten from two. England now needed two boundary hits, including at least one six, to win. The fifth ball was a yorker that Woakes somehow managed to play towards deep fine-leg.
Instead of trying to restrict the runs, the Sri Lankans celebrated – for they had managed to prevent that boundary. Amidst the excitement, they perhaps forgot while England needed two boundary hits to win, they needed less than that for a tie.
Indeed, Woakes and Plunkett ran three. Plunkett needed to hit a six. He moved towards the leg, keeping his front leg out of the way. Pradeep bowled in the slot, and the ball soared over the straight boundary.
This time the English cricketers celebrated.
