Alex Hales looked to have played his way into England’s squad for their World Twenty20 title defence in Sri Lanka in September after making a brilliant 99 against the West Indies on Sunday. Hales, on his Nottinghamshire home ground, thrilled a sell-out Trent Bridge with a barnstorming innings that saw England to a seven-wicket win as they chased down a target of 173.
Significantly, the 23-year-old Hales did it in the opener’s spot vacated by Kevin Pietersen — England’s man of the tournament when they won the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean two years ago. Pietersen quit all white ball internationals after the England management refused his request to continue playing Twenty20s while opting out of 50-over one-dayers. Concerns had been expressed as to how England would score quick runs at the top of the order in Pietersen’s absence but the 6ft 5in Hales did his best to answer those with a 68-ball innings featuring four sixes and six fours.
Hales’s score was the highest by an England batsman in a Twenty20 international, surpassing Eoin Morgan’s 85 not out against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2009.
The only sadness for Hales and a capacity crowd was that, in sight of becoming only the seventh batsman to score a Twenty20 international hundred, he was yorked by fast bowler Ravi Rampaul. Hales was visibly upset as he returned to the pavilion but afterwards the man-of-the-match had recovered his composure sufficiently to realise he’d taken a huge stride towards making the World Twenty20 squad.