Super Eight stage
In England's first Super Eight match against Ireland,Nixon contributed a 19 off 15 deliveries,hitting a 4 and a 6 along the way,helping the team's total to 266. Much like Canada in the group stage,Ireland were steadily chipping away at England's total,when Nixon again disrupted momentum with a stumping –this time dismissing Niall O'Brien off Michael Vaughan's bowling,for 63. Ultimately,England won by 48 runs. [61]
On 4 April,England were up against Sri Lanka,and at 133–6,chasing 236 to win. Nixon came to the crease and scored 42 off 44 deliveries,with two 4s and a 6,sharing an 87 run partnership with Ravi Bopara off 15.2 overs,before skying a Lasith Malinga delivery to Mahela Jayawardene. This turned out to be the best seventh wicket partnership of the whole competition. [62] His 6 came in the form of a reverse sweep off the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan. Nixon remarked after the match,"I've probably hit 20 sixes like that in county cricket –if I get my timing right,it's going to go out of the ground". [63] Bopara was left with the task of hitting 3 runs off the last delivery,but was clean bowled by Dilhara Fernando,as Sri Lanka got a 2 run victory. After this innings,Nixon had a World Cup average of 63 –second highest in the England team to Paul Collingwood,but still better than renowned players Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff. The figure placed him in the top twenty batsmen –in terms of average –at the World Cup at this stage,ahead of fellow wicket keepers,Brendon McCullum,Adam Gilchrist,Mark Boucher and Kumar Sangakkara. [64]
On 8 April,England faced Australia in the third match of the Super Eight stage of the competition. Electing to bat first,England posted 247,with Kevin Pietersen hitting 104 before hitting a Nathan Bracken delivery,but only succeeding in playing the ball into the hands of Michael Clarke. Nixon came in to bat towards the end of the innings,hit a Glenn McGrath delivery for six,before the bowler got his revenge and had him caught for 8 by Brad Hodge. Nixon's World Cup average dipped to 44.66 after five innings (two unbeaten) and 134 runs. Only Kevin Pietersen,Paul Collingwood,Ian Bell and Ed Joyce had hit more runs at this stage,although all bar Joyce had batted an innings more. Ravi Bopara had also hit over 100 runs at this point,and out of these six players,Nixon was the only one not to have hit at least 50 in a single innings. [65]
England's fourth Super Eight game was against Bangladesh,who had beaten South Africa in their previous match. However,the Tiger's were bowled out for just 143,with Sajid Mahmood and Monty Panesar each taking three wickets. Nixon took two catches,both off the bowling of James Anderson. In the chase,England were at 110–6,with 34 still needed for victory. Nixon,along with Paul Collingwood,chipped away at the total and took England to a four wicket win. Nixon finished on 20 not out,hitting a 4 and a 6 along the way. He faced 39 deliveries,compared to Collingwood's 74,for 23 runs. This partnership of 37 kept their nation's World Cup dream alive. This knock took Nixon's average in the competition to 51.33,bettered in the England team only by Collingwood and Pietersen. [66]
England next faced South Africa in a match akin to a quarter-final for which team was to progress to the semi-finals. England batted first and were 119–6 when Nixon came to the crease,with Ravi Bopara at the other end. After making 1,he was dismissed off the bowling of Andrew Hall,caught by Mark Boucher,as his team was eventually bowled out for 154,with Hall taking 5–18 –the best ever figures for a South African at a World Cup. In South Africa's reply,they were 37–0 off four overs,compared to England's total of 5–0 at the same stage in their innings. England made a breakthrough in the 10th over,as Nixon caught Abraham de Villiers for 42 off the bowling of Andrew Flintoff,but South Africa already had 85 on the board. In the end,the Proteas won by nine wickets,taking just over 19 overs to knock off England's total,with captain Graeme Smith scoring an unbeaten 89 off 58 deliveries,to send England out of the competition. [67]
On the loss against South Africa,and England's exit from the competition,Nixon said:
Colly and Strauss were going well, but we lost the whole middle order quickly. I felt good off the first ball, then just pushed at one second ball and got a feather to the wicketkeeper – just when you want a play and miss, but sadly not. People must remember that we are the second least-experienced side here, only Ireland have fewer caps. For me, I was desperate to win, because I know I will never have another go. [68]
Lastly, England played the West Indies, in what was Brian Lara's last international match. He was run out for 18, but the hosts still went on to compile 300 with Chris Gayle, Devon Smith and Marlon Samuels all hitting half centuries. Nixon took one catch – Ramnaresh Sarwan off the bowling of Liam Plunkett. In reply, England had Michael Vaughan to thank for a good start, reaching 101 before losing a second wicket. However, a mid order collapse followed, as Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff and Jamie Dalrymple all fell in quick succession. Nixon came to the crease with his side 189–6 and 112 runs still needed for victory. Nixon kept his score ticking along, whilst keeping his wicket intact. At the other end, Kevin Pietersen went on to record his second century of the competition, before being bowled by Jerome Taylor. The two had put on 80 together but 31 runs were still required. Liam Plunkett came and went, and with three more runs needed, Nixon himself was bowled by Dwayne Bravo. His 38 (off 39 deliveries, with four 4s) was a contribution which helped bring England to the cusp of victory. Playing in his first match of the competition, Stuart Broad hit the winning runs to secure a morale boosting win for his side. [69]
On the match, Nixon said, "that was an amazing game of cricket. There was some tremendous batting from West Indies. We had to do something, we'd all talked about Duncan Fletcher and it means a lot for him. The lads paced the game so well. Michael Vaughan played beautifully, Kevin Pietersen came in and played magnificently and then the Leicestershire partnership finished it off." [70]
After the match, a CricInfo article read, "the match pivoted round Paul Nixon. By smashing three bottom-handed fours through midwicket in the 48th over he made a seemingly impossible chase do-able." [71]
On the prospect of playing in future competitions for England, Nixon remarked, "I still feel I could do a job at the next World Cup in 2011." [72]
Statistics and records
England finished fifth in the competition overall, although Nixon had proved one of the team's success stories. He remarked, "fifth at the World Cup is nowhere – but I have loved every minute and let's see what the future holds." [73]
Nixon finished the tournament with an average of 38.6, having scored 193 runs. This was the third highest in the England team, behind Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood. He was the only English batsman to score over 100 runs without hitting over 50 in a single innings. [74]
After facing 194 balls, he had a strike rate of 99.48, hitting seventeen 4s and five 6s. This was the 10th highest strike rate of any player at the World Cup. [75] Of those batsmen that batted more than 3 times in the competition, he ended up with the 6th highest strike rate. [76] He also recorded the fifth highest strike rate of any England player in any innings in the competition, with his 42* off 41 balls against New Zealand – a strike rate of 102.43. Nixon made two more knocks with strike rates over 95, against West Indies and Sri Lanka. [77]
Nixon was involved in four of the highest scoring England partnerships:
Nixon had the 34th highest average of all of the players to have taken part – notably one place above Brian Lara. He was the second highest placed wicket keeper – in terms of average – behind Adam Gilchrist who moved ahead of the England man after 149 in the final.
| Rank | Name | Played | Runs | Top score | Average | 50 | 100 |
|---|
| 33 | Stephen Fleming | 10 | 353 | 102* | 39.22 | 3 | 1 |
| 34 | Paul Nixon | 9 | 193 | 42* | 38.60 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Brian Lara | 9 | 269 | 77 | 38.42 | 1 | 0 |
He finished with 9 dismissals – 7 catches and 2 stumpings, which placed him joint fifth in the wicket keeper dismissal rankings. [79]
