Luke Wood starred with the ball & took 2 wickets in a high-scoring encounter & England comprehensively defeated West Indies. England chased down 197 target with 9 balls left and 4 wickets in hand. West Indies had their moments in the match but England once again played the big moments better & were equipped to tackle the challenges in the match.
West Indies put up 196/6 with captain Shai Hope and Johnson Charles scoring 40s while the lower middle order finished things off well despite an impressive bowling display from Luke Wood. In reply, England paced their innings really well. Jos Buttler played the role of anchor while others played useful contributions around him to clinch the game against a weakened West Indies bowling attack.
Shai Hope, Johnson Charles & Romario Shepherd end on a high note
West Indies got off to the worst possible start as Evin Lewis fell off the first ball of the match to Luke Wood. It was a Yorker length angling in and wrapping him on the pads in front of the stumps. The decision given by the umpire was easy but Lewis still challenged the call and opted for DRS and burnt a review in the process.
Thereafter, the duo of Shai Hope and Johnson Charles steadied the ship a wee bit. Charles was struggling to break free while captain Shai Hope was the aggressor of the two. Both scored 40s with Hope scoring 49 off 38 balls while Charles scored 47 off 39 balls. They played through the powerplay and till the completion of 10 overs as the scoreboard read 82/1 at the halfway stage.
The bowling was decent, but the batting was to the merit of the ball. The duo put on 90 for the second wicket to put West Indies back on track for a big total. England fought back after this partnership as captain Shai Hope fell for 49 trying to take on the bowling but falling prey to Adil Rashid. Sherfane Rutherford did not trouble the score much, falling for a meagre 6 runs to part-time bowler Jacob Bethell. Charles fell for 47 to Luke Wood as West Indies went from 90/1 in 10.4 overs to 117/4 in 15.2 overs as England were right back in the game.
West Indies were not willing to throw in the towel with the deep batting line-up they had. Former captain Rovman Powell played a gem of an innings scoring 34 off 15 balls before Luke Wood pulled off a brilliant catch in the deep to end his vigil at the crease off the bowling of Brydon Carse.
Luke Wood was the star of England finishing with figures of 2/25 in 4 overs alongside a brilliant catch he took of Rovman Powell. The rest of the bowlers tried to complement him but went the distance on a good pitch and short sized boundaries. Brydon Carse picked up a wicket while Jacob Bethell bowled a decent spell of 1/24 in 3 overs. Will Jacks bowled a cheap one over for 2 runs.
Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder finished things off in style with Holder playing a real gem of an innings scoring 29* off 9 balls. Shepherd scored 19 off 11 balls. Adil Rashid was called upon to bowl the 19th over and he was carted for 31 runs by the duo of Holder and Shepherd as the Windies had a strong finish to their innings. As many as 84 runs were scored from 16th to 20th over as West Indies reached a competitive 196/6.
It was a day to forget for England’s premier leg spinner Adil Rashid as he went for 59 runs in 4 overs, the most expensive spell by him. 31 off those runs came in his final over and the innings’ 19th. Liam Dawson also went wicketless and for 43 runs as the spinners were tackled well by the visitors.
Tom Banton wraps up the game after a collective effort from England batters
Chasing 197 for the win, keeper batter Jamie Smith fell early to Jason Holder for 4. Ben Duckett and Jos Buttler then steadied the ship and put on 63 for the second wicket off 37 balls. Duckett was the aggressor of the two and scored 30 off 18 balls. Buttler played the role of an anchor and set the platform for the other batters to cash in later on. Buttler made 47 off 36 balls.
Just when things looked in control, Duckett fell to Shepherd for 30 in the 8th over but England were maintaining a very good run rate. They never allowed the required to skyrocket to unmanageable levels.
Harry Brook joined Jos Buttler in the middle, and the duo added another 40 runs off 29 balls with Brook being the aggressor. Buttler eventually fell in the 13th over after being dropped by Johnson Charles an over earlier. Co-incidentally, it was Charles who took the catch of Buttler in the end of the bowling of Akeal Hosein.
The captain of England made 34 off 20 balls before he too perished to Roston Chase. Jacob Bethell played another useful knock of 26 off 10 balls and shared a crucial 43-run stand with Tom Banton off 15 balls. But the most impactful innings was played by Tom Banton who showed his intent clear from the word go and tore apart the West Indies death bowling to pieces.
While Tom Banton and Bethell sealed the chase with a quickfire partnership, it was Banton who batted till the end and took his side over the line. Alzarri Joseph was in for special treatment due to his wayward bowling. Bethell fell, and so did Will Jacks. But Banton and Brydon Carse (6*) took the side over the line in 18.3 overs. 15 extras given by the tourists did not help their cause.
The West Indies bowling was not at all upto the mark. Alzarri Joseph picked up a couple of wickets but went for 45 runs in his 4 overs. Akeal Hosein bowled decently for his 1/33 in 4 overs. Jason Holder picked up a wicket early on in the piece. Romario Shepherd had a wicket to his name but went for 42 runs in 3 overs. Gudakesh Motie was wicketless in his 3 overs for 28 runs. Roston Chase bowled only one over and conceded 15 runs picking up a wicket.
West Indies’ bowling was exposed and they really need to pull up their socks if they want to go home from this tour with a win.
What Lies Ahead
England have been unbeaten this summer, winning every international match they have played. They won the One-off Test against Zimbabwe and have now won 5 matches out of 5 against West Indies across ODIs and T20Is. They lead the T20I series 2-0 and would like to complete the whitewash in the 3rd T20I on 10th June in Southampton.
The visitors West Indies, have a lot of soul searching to do under new T20I skipper Shai Hope. They may have played well in patches but have failed to get a win on this tour yet. They will be desperate to get a win in Southampton and end the UK tour on a high. Remember, West Indies goes back to Ireland for a 3-match T20I series after this series and would want to go there with some confidence in their minds.
Both teams next meet in Southampton on Tuesday evening (10th June) for the final match of the tour. Will the West Indies get a consolation win and a first win in the tour? Or will England remain unbeaten this summer? Only time will tell.
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