Dawid Malan leads race to seal spot in XI for CWC opener as Roy remains in tight space with back injury

England batter Dawid Malan has pressed his case for a slot in the XI for the World Cup opener against New Zealand on October 5 with a sublime hundred in the final One-Dayer against Kiwis at Lord’s. The left-handed batter, who failed to reach the hundred-run-mark at the Kia Oval, getting out on 96, completed the ton at the Lord’s to finish as the top run-getter in the four-match series.

While his purple patch puts him ahead in the race to open alongside Jonny Bairstow in the showpiece event, the ECB keeps a keen on World Cup winner Jason Roy, who continues to recover from a back injury. The right-handed batter sat out in all four ODIs, and Malan, who opened in three out of the four games, struck gold, scoring 277 at 92.33 and a strike rate of 105.73.

Praising Malan following his match-winning hundred, former England captain Nasser Hussain said Malan is disciplined and scores consistently like a machine.

"He (Malan) is disciplined and orthodox - a machine. He is very consistent, the glue that allows everyone else at the other end to come out and be positive.

"He likes to bat through [the innings], but his strike rate is up at 95, 96 so he doesn't plod along. He puts anything short and wide away and is in phenomenal nick," Hussain said.

Roy needs to play Ireland series

England’s three-match ODI series against Ireland is a dress rehearsal for the World Cup. While Malan’s numbers and form going into the mega event make him the favourite to open, several pundits feel for Roy to return to the reckoning, he must first get fit in time for the Ireland series, starting next Wednesday, and secondly, must hit top form straight away.

Eoin Morgan, the World Cup-winning captain in 2019, feels, "The biggest concern now is Roy's level of fitness.

"He has to play in the Ireland series as you can't sit in a selection meeting with any amount of confidence and pick him for the World Cup at the moment. He has to go through a certain level of game time, recuperation and then possibly another game to try and prove his fitness,” Morgan said of Roy.

While England had named Roy in the provisional squad, it remains to be seen how early he gets fit and fares with bat in hand against Ireland if given a chance.

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