Chris Jordan prevents series whitewash

Mar 14, 2014 Sports

BBC Sport – Barbados-born Chris Jordan inspired England to a five-run victory against West Indies in Bridgetown in their final match before the World Twenty20.

Darren Sammy reaches for the final ball of the match, which would have been a wide. (AFP)

The all-rounder hit 27 not out, including four sixes off the last over of England’s innings, to take the total to 165-5 after a middle-order stutter.
Jordan then took over with the ball as he collected 3-39 from his four overs.
Lendl Simmons (66) took Windies close but England held on to end the series – which they lost 2-1 – on a high.
They certainly needed some positives to take to the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh having already lost the first two T20 internationals in the Barbadian capital. And Sussex all-rounder Jordan, 25, provided it – with bat, ball and in the field – in only his second T20 international as he staked a claim to be in the England team to face New Zealand in their opening match in Chittagong on 22 March.
England’s top order had struggled against the West Indies in their previous two matches, but after winning the toss at the Oval, Eoin Morgan’s side got off to a flying start.
Openers Michael Lumb and Alex Hales peppered the boundary as they cracked 52 in just four overs.
Lumb cleared the ropes off the bowling of Andre Russell in the seventh over with a six that bounced off the roof of the Greenidge-Haynes stand, and three balls later brought up his third Twenty20 half-century for England from only 27 balls.
The Nottinghamshire pair had put on 98 for the first wicket in 10.5 overs when Lumb skied a delivery from debutant Sheldon Cottrell which was well held by West Indies captain Darren Sammy.
Hales departed for 38 in the 13th over, caught by Simmons at long-on off Cottrell (2-37) with the score on 112, and England’s innings faltered as they failed to build on the platform laid down by their openers.
Morgan (18) struggled for fluency before he picked out deep midwicket off Sunil Narine, and Krishmar Santokie (2-27) then accounted for both Jos Buttler (3) and Ben Stokes (0).
And when Moeen Ali was run out by a sharp piece of fielding by Santokie to leave them 138-6 with 11 balls left, it looked unlikely England would reach 150.

Chris Jordan was ecstatic after removing Marlon Samuels. (Getty Images)

However, Jordan seized his moment to haul England to a competitive total with some devastating hitting off Dwayne Bravo in the final over as he made 27 from just nine balls.
England then made a perfect start to the West Indies innings when Jade Dernbach bowled Dwayne Smith with the first ball.
Jordan reduced the hosts to 4-2 in the second over as he took a caught-and-bowled chance off Johnson Charles, who got a leading edge as he tried to work the ball to leg.
The former Surrey man then removed the dangerous Marlon Samuels (15) when he dragged on to his stumps in the fifth over with the score on 28.
West Indies recovered but England kept the run-rate under control as Ravi Bopara (2-28) bowled a tidy spell in the middle overs.
Bopara removed Bravo (16), caught in the deep by Jordan with a diving one-handed effort, and Russell for a duck to leave the hosts 67-5 in the 11th over.
Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin (33) combined well with the impressive Simmons to take the score to 140-6 before the former’s stumps were cleaned up by Jordan as England looked to close out the game.
Home captain Sammy gave England a scare with 15 off 11 balls but with six to win off the last ball Dernbach, having bowled a wide off the previous delivery, saw Sammy fail to clear the boundary.
Scores: England 165 for 6 (Lumb 63, Hales 38, Jordan 27*) beat West Indies 160 for 7 (Simmons 69, Ramdin 33, Jordan 3-39) by five runs.