The 18-year-old’s haul was even more impressive considering the fact that his side had been dismissed for 127 in the 34th over of their quarter-final against England, who were cruising to victory at 47 without loss after seven overs. Pope, however, was then thrown the ball by captain Jason Sangha and he proceeded to run amok, taking two wickets in his first over off successive balls. “Sangh (Sangha) put me on pretty early,” Pope told reporters after England were bowled out for 96, despite opener Tom Banton scoring 58.
“I like putting myself in pressure scenarios, I feel like I bowl better under pressure. Sangh throwing me the ball gives me a bit of confidence that my captain is trying to advance the game and for me to land the ball in there straight away and take wickets, I love those scenarios in the game.”
Pope said despite the fact his side had set such a paltry target at the Queenstown Events Centre, no-one believed they would lose the game, even after Banton had given England a blistering start. “Everybody had some real fight left in them and we were constantly talking about winning the game,” Pope said. “We didn’t think we were ever falling behind. We all felt that we were in it and could win. We always had the belief even when they 47 for none.”
Pope followed his double-strike by removing Will Jacks for one and then had Banton and Finlay Trenouth both caught by Sangha at slip to leave England reeling on 79-5 at the scheduled lunch break and staring defeat in the face. He finished off the tail after the break and the comparisons to leg-spinning great Shane Warne were immediately being made. The Australian is widely considered to have changed the art of leg-spin as he tortured batsmen worldwide with his control and variations before retiring with 708 Test wickets but Pope said he did not feel anything like him.
“I don’t tend to compare myself to him,” said Pope, whose long unkempt hair would be shorn when he returns home. “It is good to look at him and learn. I really would like to put my red-ball cricket up where he was, that’s the aspiration for any leg-spinner really. Comparisons? I don’t really think about them too much.”
“I’ve always loved to bowl wrong’uns from an early age,” Pope said when asked about his lethal googly.
“It’s a big part of my game and I love bowling variations and just working on new things in the nets.”
Pope’s first-ball dismissal of England skipper Harry Brook with a googly would have pleased Warne, who took to Twitter to compliment a youngster armed with a formidable bag of tricks that also includes sharp leg-breaks and awkward skidders.
“This is terrific & brings a huge smile to my face. I had the pleasure of meeting this impressive young man in Adelaide a while ago! Was nice to have a bowl with him too — Lloyd give it a rip — well done & congrats! Spin to win my friend,” Warne tweeted.
Aussie media, still smarting from the senior team’s ODI series loss to England, seized upon the red-headed tyro’s heroics in Queenstown.
“The new Shane Warne has arrived,” Pope’s home-town paper the Adelaide Advertiser trumpeted on its website yesterday.
Cricket Australia’s website likened his impact to Warne’s in the 1999 World Cup, when he took four for 29 against South Africa.
Even the game’s governing body, the ICC, could not resist the comparison, saying: “This could justifiably be called a Warne-esque spell.
“This has a claim to being Australia’s most explosive scene-bursting moment since Shane lobbed one up to Mike Gatting in 1993,” it added.
His gravity-defying delivery to Gatting announced his arrival on the world stage and has been called “the ball of the century”.
Brief Scores
Super League Quarter-finals
Australia beat England by 31 runs, John Davies Oval, Queensland
Australia 127 all out in in 33.3 overs (Jason Sangha 58; Dillon Pennington 3-27, William Jacks 3-21, Ethan Bamber 3-31) bt England 96 all out in 23.4 overs (Tom Banton 58; Lloyd Pope 8-35)
Player of the match: Lloyd Pope (Australia)
Plate Quarter-finals
Sri Lanka beat Kenya by 311 runs,
Lincoln, Christchurch
Sri Lanka 419-5 in 50 overs (Hasitha Boyagoda 191, Nisan Madushka 60, Kamindu Mendis 53, Nuwanido Fernando 35 not out, Abhishek Chidambaram 2-68) bt Kenya 108 in 35.5 overs (Thomas Ochieng 45, Hareen Buddhila 4-27, Nipun Malinga 2-14).
Player of the match: Hasitha Boyagoda (Sri Lanka)
Windies beat Ireland by four wickets, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Christchurch
Ireland 278-8 in 50 overs (Neil Rock 91, Harry Tector 69, Mark Donegan 38; Jeavor Royal 3-59, Ronaldo Alimohamed 2-31) lost to Windies 281-6 in 48.2 overs (Nyeem Young 55 not out, Bhaskar Yadram 53, Emmanuel Stewart 50, Kirstan Kallicharan 46)
Player of the match: Nyeem Young (West Indies)
Today’s fixture (Super League
quarter-final): Pakistan v South Africa, Hagley Oval, Christchurch
