Zampa responded with a googly; Bethell spotted it, rocked back and scythed it through the covers. From the fourth delivery, Bethell again used the depth of his crease, pulling a long hop for four. Zampa seldom bowls such poor deliveries; then again, he is seldom put under as much pressure. In four deliveries, Bethell had thrashed 18 runs; England scored 20 from the over, turning a fraught chase into a cruise, with the required rate down to seven.

This flurry fit within the ethos of modern T20. When a match-up is in a batting side’s favour – as it was for Bethell against leg spin – batsmen should double down, even while risking getting out. Bethell had the chutzpah, power and dazzling skill to use this logic as his cue to eviscerate Zampa.

As he did so, the blond streaks in his hair and high back-lift at the crease added to the sense of showmanship. Marcus Trescothick, England’s interim white-ball coach, had hailed Bethell as a “superstar” in the making before the series. Alongside his gallivanting batting, useful left-arm spin and dynamic fielding, it makes Bethell’s allure even greater.

‘Emotions spill out on nights like these’

Bethell has long been hailed as potentially one of the most exciting players of his generation – and not only in England. A Barbados native, born into a family with a rich cricket history on the island – his grandad captained Sir Garfield Sobers – Bethell enrolled in the Franklyn Stephenson Academy, aged 11. The academy had one particularly distinguished visitor: Brian Lara, who declared that Bethell was better than he was at the same age. Bethell’s family travelled from Barbados to watch his first series as an international cricketer.

“They’ve given up so much to give me this opportunity to come over here,” Bethell said. “To do it in front of them – they’ve not watched me play a lot of cricket live, so to finally watch me, and it being in international colours, is unreal.

“They were planning a trip for the end of September. They’d never been over for an end-of-season thing and wanted to come to the dinner. But this came up, so they were like, ‘We’ll try to push it forward’.”

How glad the Bethell clan will be that they did. After his 24-ball 44, Bethell went over to his mum, dad and two sisters in the stands. “They just said they’re proud. Emotions spill out on nights like these, but they’re happy and I’m happy, so it’s good.”

Aged 13, Bethell moved to England, lured by a sports scholarship at Rugby School. Here, he bulked up, morphing from supreme touch player into a formidable six-hitter, thriving at age-group level. In 2022, Bethell starred in the Under-19 World Cup, hitting 88 from 42 balls against South Africa.