But it now feels increasingly likely that Malan will feature on October 5, when England play New Zealand in the opening game of the World Cup in Ahmedabad, quite possibly as Jonny Bairstow’s opening partner. And if Malan is pencilled in for that role, Brook might well edge Roy to the remaining batting spot in the squad, given his versatility and Roy’s patchy fitness record.
After England’s victory at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday, Jos Buttler and his players spoke “about freeing ourselves up… trying to get back to being even more positive, even more aggressive”. Malan and Stokes responded accordingly, bringing up a 100-run stand in 15.1 overs; Malan attacked the new ball, with six crisply-struck boundaries inside the first 10 overs.
Malan was typically strong on the pull, twice nailing Ben Lister through square leg for four, and raced into the 80s by flogging Kyle Jamieson over long-on. He strangled Boult down the leg side after getting a little stuck as three figures approached, but at 212 for 3 after 30.1 overs, he had laid the ideal platform.
England couldn’t convert it into the 400-plus score that seemed inevitable, leaving 11 balls unused as their lower order collapsed. Buttler sparkled briefly for 38 off 24 but Stokes’ dismissal in the 45th over triggered a slide of 5 for 20; Boult, the pick of the New Zealand attack, claimed a sixth ODI five-for by rearranging Gus Atkinson’s stumps.
There was some mitigation for New Zealand with the ball. With Mitchell Santner jarring his knee at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday and Ish Sodhi rested, they relied on two allrounders in Phillips and Rachin Ravindra to bowl spin, while neither Jamieson nor Lister will feature for them in the World Cup, barring injury.
But Stokes ensured that England took advantage of their weakened attack, scoring 59 off the 35 balls of spin he faced – including three huge sixes which rendered Ravindra unusable after his second over. It came as a surprise when he eventually fell to Lister – but not before breaking Roy’s record for the highest innings by an Englishman in ODIs.
With Adil Rashid and Mark Wood both kept in cotton wool – or, at least, in luminous green bibs in the substitutes’ dugout – England were also without their two main bowlers in their defence, but it hardly mattered: Woakes had Will Young caught behind and Henry Nicholls miscuing to square leg, and his inswinger rattled Tom Latham’s stumps.
Devon Conway looked out of sorts for his 9 off 18 before he fell lbw to Reece Topley to leave New Zealand 37 for 4, before Sam Curran had Daryl Mitchell caught behind and Moeen Ali bowled Ravindra with an arm ball. Phillips launched a couple of futile sixes as the asking rate soared; by the time he was lbw on review for the first of Liam Livingstone’s three wickets, The Oval was half-empty.