Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid make most of the absence of key England players

The pair have shown great promise so far in the series, and will look to seal their places in the side.

The second One-Day International (ODI) between England and New Zealand at the Oval turned out to be a thrilling run-fest, which helped New Zealand make their mark in the series. While the likes of Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson and Eoin Morgan were talked about figures after the match for their knocks, Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid proved to be useful pinch-hitters for England down the order. Amit Banerjee explains how the pair have made the most of the absence of key England players and how they should be groomed for the shorter formats in the near future.

New Zealand rose to the occasion from their humiliating 210-run loss in the first One-Day International (ODI) at Edgbaston. The batsmen managed to rally together to help the team post a daunting 398-run total. Everytime England managed to get a breakthrough, partnerships were formed to rescue the side out of any trouble. Match Report: England vs New Zealand, 2nd ODI at Oval

The England batsmen however, were equally aggressive in their approach and made the most of New Zealand’s complacency. Eoin Morgan’s hard-hitting helped the hosts recover from a series of early dismissals from  They went from being 100 for 3 to 259 for 4. Series of dismissals followed during the second powerplay overs, when the hosts lost three wickets, nearly sealing the match for the Kiwis.

That’s when Liam Plunkett came to the fore. The New Zealand bowlers may have been lax when the pair walked into bat, but it would not be enough to discredit the pair’s calm and composed approach to the situation that made the contest the thriller that it eventually turned out to be.

Plunkett and Rashid’s fine performances with the bat, and the ball in latter’s case as he could be a handy replacement for Moeen Ali, who has struggled to be the sort of all-rounder England want him to be. His performances are encouraging signs for England goin into the last three matches of the series England can now bank on the pair’s hard-hitting abilities in the limited-overs matches lower down the order to good effect.

Plunkett, who currently plays for Yorkshire in the County Championship, has had a topsy-turvy career since making his international debut during the tour of Pakistan in late 2005. Plunkett has had a couple of stellar performances, especially during the 2006 triangular series involving Australia and New Zealand. Plunkett needs to make the most out of the opportunity that has been offered to him, if he intends to resurrect his international career.

Rashid, on the other hand, is perhaps another Moeen in the making, with the sole exception that he looks more well-settled in ODIs and T20Is, and must be groomed by Trevor Bayliss ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 that is scheduled to be played in March next year.

Will the performances enable the two to earn a place in the Ashes squad? Perhaps not, as the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who were rested for the ODI series, will make a return. But the pair, who have so far made full use of Anderson and Broad’s absence, must be patient for now and prove themselves in the longer and the trying Test format whenever they get the opportunity. READ: Resting trio smart move for England

(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)

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