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West Indies take the lead in T20 series
England Tour of the West Indies…
Kaieteur Sports – The West Indies cricket team is bursting at the seams with confidence after they went ahead 1 – 0 in their five-match T20 series against England on Tuesday evening at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
England were given the opportunity to bat first as they lost the toss and were bowled out for 171 in 19.3 overs. In reply, West Indies reached 172 – 6 in 18.1 overs to claim victory.
The chase was an intriguing one with the tone being set by openers Brandon King (22) and Kyle Mayers (35). At the end of the opening powerplay, Windies were 71 -1, just six runs being England at that point.
After Mayers’ removal at 78 – 2, vice captain, Shai Hope, continued to be impressive with the bat, steering the local side well post powerplay alongside Nicholas Pooran (13). Pooran’s departure took Windies to 100 – 3 before Shimron Hetmyer added a single then fell to make it 101 – 4 in 11.3 overs.
West Indies captain Rovman Powell was unbeaten with 31 from 15. (Getty Images)
In the next over, rain interrupted play with the score on 108 – 4 from 12.4 overs, with West Indies six runs ahead on the Duckworth/Lewis System.
After the resumption, West Indies needed 64 from 44 deliveries with homeboy, Hope, and the skipper, Rovman Powell under no real pressure.
England had a glimmer of hope when they removed Hope (36) and Romario Shepherd (0) in consecutive deliveries to bring Andre Russell to the middle.
Jos Buttler and Phil Salt started brightly in the powerplay. (Getty Images)
The Jamaicans made no mistake of bringing the game home with some clean hitting to achieve the target with 11 deliveries to spare. Powell was left unbeaten on 31 from 15 balls while Russell had 29 from 14.
Rehan Ahmed the pick of the England bowlers with 3 – 29, Adil Rashid ended with 2 – 25 and Chris Woakes accounted for the other wicket.
Earlier in the evening, England had a rocket start to their innings compliments of Phil Salt and Jos Buttler taking full advantage of the first powerplay, to propel their side to 77 in six overs. However, the dangerous Salt was the first to fall on the first ball of the 7th over for 40 from 20 deliveries.
Buttler and Will Jacks kept the run rate soaring even though the latter fell for 17 in the ninth over with the score on 98. The skipper, Buttler, then departed for a 31-ball 39 as the score ticked over to 117 – 3 in the 11th over.
The new pair of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook (1) was separated when Brook nicked one to the wicketkeeper, Nicholas Pooran, off a Jason Holder delivery. The score was 120 – 4 as Liam Livingstone joined Duckett to help shift the tide once more.
Suddenly, the projected total of above 200 runs seemed a monumental task. Duckett (14), Livingstone (27) and Sam Curran (13) were the only other England batters to enter double figures as the tail crumbled under the pressure of the West Indian bowlers. England lost their last five wickets for six runs.
Andre Russell (3 – 19) and Alzarri Joseph (3 – 54) shared the bulk of the wickets while Romario Shepherd (2 – 22), Akeal Hosein (1 – 32) and Jason Holder (1 – 43) supported well.
The two teams will now shift their focus to the second T20 International of the five-match series which is scheduled for Thursday, December 14, at the Grenada National Stadium.
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