England front-runners to win World T20 title

England are smarting under a 2-3 defeat they suffered at the hands of South Africa in their recent One-Day International (ODI) series. England had led 2-0 after the first two matches. 

Hales came up with consistent performances in the series against South Africa with four half-centuries in the first four matches before hitting his second ODI century in the series deciding match last Sunday. 

When asked if England were one of the favourites to win the World T20, the right-hand opening batsman was confident in saying that they can. “I don’t see why not. It’s definitely the best side I’ve been involved with in Twenty20, with a lot of young ball strikers and a good bowling attack as well,” Hales said on Monday. 

“I think it’s a really exciting time - with the talent and firepower we have in our squad, people who can hit sixes all the way down to No 11. I think we’ve got a good chance,” Hales said. 

Hales was particularly more comfortable during the ODI series compared to the Tests  against South Africa where he was unable to put together a good string of performances. “I was obviously very disappointed with how the Tests went. But it was my first crack at it, and I feel I learned a lot from it,” the hard-hitting batsman said. “It was good to find some form with the white ball, and I feel in good touch going into these Twenty20's. We’ve got a big couple of months now, with the Twenty20 World Cup,” Hales concluded.