Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith put on a superb show at the top of the order while the other batters did their job as England hammered West Indies by 37 runs to clinch the T20I series 3-0. Batting first, England amassed 248/3 out of which 120 was the opening partnership between Duckett and Smith while the rest of the batters drove home the advantage.
Chasing 249 was always going to be an arduous task for the West Indies, but they showed glimpses of fight. The openers fell early while Shai Hope the captain showed some fight with his 45 and Shimron Hetmyer’s 26 off 8 balls was impressive Rovman Powell’s unbeaten 79 off 45 balls was the shining light till the end with Jason Holder scoring 25 off 12 balls as West Indies crossed the 200-run mark ending at 203/8. But it was not enough as England completed the win easily.
Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith lay the platform as England amass a huge total.
Put into bat first, England began the initial overs cautiously but then teed off inside the powerplay. The duo of Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith were like a rampaging river. They were unstoppable as some exquisite shots were on display against some average bowling by the tourists. Keeper batter Jamie Smith was the aggressor of the two as he smashed 5 sixes and 4 fours in his knock of 60 off 26 balls.
Ben Duckett played through the innings and almost played till the end of the 15th over. The duo amassed 83 runs in the powerplay to lay the platform and put on 120 for the first wicket when Smith perished in the 9th over falling to Gudakesh Motie.
Jos Buttler came and scored a quickfire 22 runs off 10 balls to keep the momentum going for England. Buttler looked good for more but he too perished to Sherfane Rutherford. Ben Duckett and Harry Brook played together for a bit before Duckett who top scored yesterday fell for 84 off 46 balls in the 15th over with the score already reading 178. West Indies felt they were back in the game, but things took a turn for the worse in the death overs.
Harry Brook was joined by Jacob Bethell and the duo put on an unbroken stand of 70 runs in 31 balls to take the game away from West Indies. The captain played responsibly for his 35 runs off 22 balls while Jacob Bethell was the aggressor of the two scoring 36 off 16 balls. Both remained unbeaten in this innings. 75 runs were scored in the last 6 overs and 11 extras all of them wides given by the West Indies that helped England amass 248/3 in 20 overs.
It was an evening to forget for the West Indies bowlers as all of them went over 10 runs an over with few going northwards of 15 and 19 an over. A wicket apiece for Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein as they tried to keep the runs down. A wicket for Sherfane Rutherford as well but the fast bowling left a lot to be desired for the West Indies. Alzarri Joseph had another forgettable outing going for 60 runs in 4 overs and returning wicketless.
Rovman Powell the lone shining bright as England sweep the series remaining unbeaten this summer
Chasing 249 was always going to be a tall task for the West Indies. What did not help was both the openers fell cheaply that put them further on the back foot. Both Evin Lewis and Johnson Charles fell for 9 with Charles falling for the trap at deep square leg. West Indies were two down inside the first 5 overs and despite amassing 66 runs in the powerplay, they were behind the eight ball.
Captain Shai Hope showed some fight out there and scored a breezy 45 off 27 balls. Shimron Hetmyer looked good for his 26 off 8 balls but could no sustain the innings to greater heights. The middle order around them crumbled but there was one man who stood tall amidst the fall of wickets and was the shining light for the West Indies and that was Rovman Powell.
The former West Indies skipper fought a losing battle till the end after coming into bat at 4/70 in 7.1 overs. He initially built a 49-run stand with current skipper Shai Hope and later on had a 52-run stand with Jason Holder who scored 25 off 12 balls. He also added 37* off 16 balls with Akeal Hosein scoring the bulk of the scoring and taking the team past the 200-run mark.
63 runs were scored in the middle overs but the tourists lost 4 wickets while 82 runs were scored in the death overs for the loss of 2 wickets as West Indies ended with 211/8 in 20 overs. 15 extras were given by the fielding side.
Luke Wood once again starred with the ball and was amongst the wickets with figures of 3/31 in 4 overs. Adil Rashid was back in form after being carted for runs in the previous game. He finished with 2/30 in 4 overs. Liam Dawson bowled well for his 1/34 in 4 overs. The part-time spinner Jacob Bethell also got a wicket after bowling 3 overs. Brydon Carse had a day to forget with the ball picking up a wicket and giving away 63 runs 23 off which came in the final over of the match that he bowled. England gets the win and remain unbeaten this summer so far.
The Road Ahead.
England are unbeaten this summer having won 6 white ball games out of 6 against West Indies and the one-off Test against Zimbabwe. Next-up for the home side will be the 5-match Test series against India starting at Leeds on the 20th of June. While for the West Indies, they take a quick trip to Ireland to face them in the T20I series starting tomorrow i.e. 12th of June. It will be a 3-match T20I series. West Indies will look to improve in all facets of the game and get wins under their belt to boost their confidence.
Also Read: ENG vs WI: Luke Wood’s Deadly Spell Stuns West Indies & Seals T20I Series