Chris Jordan modestly attributed his stunning Super Over to a “clear plan” as England completed a 3-0 Twenty20 International series whitewash over Pakistan in the most dramatic of circumstances.
After Pakistan forced a tie by scrambling a final-ball bye, Jordan was tasked with delivering the first ever Super Over by an England player.
And after conceding just three runs from it, few that follow him will do a better job.
The 27-year-old allowed just one run off the bat – the other two runs were leg-byes – as noted hard-hitters Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal could hardly lay bat on ball.
Jordan speared the ball in low and straight, following the batsmen when they made room for themselves, as he showed nerves of steel in the partisan atmosphere of the Sharjah International Stadium.
“It was a bit surreal really,” said Jordan, who revealed to ecb.co.uk that he had simply stuck to captain Eoin Morgan’s directive to bowl six yorkers.
“What helped us out is that we had a real clear plan on what we wanted to deliver and luckily I was able to deliver it.
“The previous overs in trying to close out the game we didn’t quite get it right. We bowled maybe a few too many full-tosses or we just missed our length.
“In that last over we thought if we could take wickets as well and try and bowl nice and straight yorkers and luckily I was able to nail them.”
Being asked to deliver yorkers and actually doing it, especially in a Super Over, are two different matters and Jordan’s ice-cool finishing added another plus-point at the end of a series filled with them.
With the World Twenty20 looming large on the horizon – England have two more scheduled matches, against South Africa in February, before the tournament begins – Jordan hopes he has boosted his chances of being on the plane to India.
“It’s a brilliant feeling and it is one that will stand me in good stead – being under that type of pressure and being able to deliver,” he added.
.@Eoin16 pic.twitter.com/6L1322s7ef
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) November 30, 2015
“Hopefully I can go from strength to strength from here.”
England’s win also moved them up two places in the ICC’s Twenty20 rankings to fourth place and Jordan thinks the win tonight – when the series was already secured – proved his young team-mates’ desire to keep rising on the world stage.
“The win tonight epitomises how hungry we are as a team because we won the series a game ago and it might have been quite easy to ease off the gas a bit tonight,” he said.
“We didn’t get off to the best start with the bat but again our character came through and we were able to get up to a score where we could try and defend. It speaks volumes for this team.
“It can only give us confidence. The more games we play and the more experience we get, especially in tight situations, it can only do your confidence good going into the World T20.
“Whoever is picked in that to play – I’m sure they’ll be ready.”
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