Sherfane Rutherford stood up and performed under pressure as he rescued West Indies from a precarious position to get to a big total. Sherfane Rutherford looked determined and poised out there as he smashed 76 runs off 42 balls. He was ably supported by Roston Chase and Jason Holder as well as the West Indies recovered from 79/4 in 10 overs to get to 196/6 in 20 overs. Adil Rashid bowled really well for England with 2/16 in 4 overs.
While defending the score, West Indies spinners came to the fore and won them the game in middle overs. England were off to a flier as they made 67/1 in 6 overs. But West Indies through Gudakesh Motie’s 3-wicket haul and Roston Chase’s 2 wickets alongside Akeal Hosein one wicket as the spinners took 7 wickets between them to skittle England for 166 with Sam Curran remaining unbeaten high and dry for 43. West Indies won the game easily in the end by 30 runs.
Sherfane Rutherford’s powerful unbeaten 76 powers West Indies to competitive 196/6
Put into bat first, Brandon King and captain cum keeper Shai Hope walked out to bat for West Indies while Jofra Archer had ball in hand for England. West Indies were off to a shaky start as they lost their captain Shai Hope for a bronze duck when the score was 8. Jofra Archer got his wicket. Shimron Hetmyer came out to bat next. Sam Curran came onto bowl next and he dismissed King for 1 off 3 balls as Salt took the catch in the deep. West Indies were 8/2 in 7 balls. Roston Chase came out to bat next.
Chase and Hetmyer counter-attacked for the West Indies. They recovered from the early setbacks and took the England bowling head on. Will Jacks came under attack in the powerplay. The duo smashed him for 19 runs in his opening over. But Jamie Overton came into the attack in the last over of powerplay and he removed Hetmyer for 23 off 12 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name as the budding partnership of 47 runs for the third wicket came to an end.
Sherfane Rutherford came to the crease as the powerplay score was 55/3 in 6 overs. It was tough initially in the middle phase as Adil Rashid came into the attack and tied down the runs. The duo of Rutherford and Chase rebuit things for the West Indies and put on 22 runs for the 4th wicket before Chase fell LBW to Rashid for 34 off 29 balls with 6 fours to his name. Rovman Powell came out to bat next and after 10 overs, the score was 79/4 for the West Indies.
Rutherford took matters into his own hands and decided to take the attack to the opposition. Powell complimented him well and gave him support by hanging in there. The duo played through the middle phase and put on 51 crucial runs for the 5th wicket before Powell fell for 14 off 13 balls with 2 fours to his name to Rashid once again. Jason Holder came out to bat next.
Jason Holder was quickly off the blocks as the West Indies reached 130/5 in 15 overs. But the West Indies needed a finishing kick and Rutherford was well set and reached his fifty but Holder took off and now took the attack to the England bowlers. Both of them complimented each other well and targeted each and every bowler that came in their way. The duo added a breath-taking 61 runs off 32 balls before Holder fell in the final over of the innings for 33 off 17 balls with one four and 4 sixes to his name to Overton. Romario Shepherd came out to bat next.
With 2 balls to go, Shepherd took a single and Rutherford smashed the last ball of the innings for the maximum down the ground over long-off as West Indies finished things off in style. Rutherford was unbeaten on 76 off 42 balls with 2 fours and 7 sixes to his name. Shepherd was unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball as West Indies finished with 196/6 in 20 overs. 14 extras given by the fielding side.
Adil Rashid was the pick of the bowlers for England with brilliant figures of 2/16 in 4 overs. Jamie Overton chipped in with 2/33 in 4 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 1/48 in 4 overs. Sam Curran finished with 1/36 in 3 overs. Will Jacks went for 32 runs in 2 overs. Liam Dawson went for 27 runs in 3 overs. The target for England on a flat deck was 197 runs to win off 20 overs.
Spinners led by Gudakesh Motie spins West Indies to 30-run win
Chasing 197 for the win, Philip Salt and keeper batter Jos Buttler came out to bat for England while Akeal Hosein took the new ball for West Indies. Salt was on the move straight away as he hit a boundary off the first ball of the innings. Salt then took down Jason Holder as he smashed him for 24 runs in the over. Salt looked good and scored the bulk of the runs in powerplay as the duo put on 38 for the first wicket before Salt fell for 30 off 14 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Romario Shepherd.
Jacob Bethell came out to the middle. Both the batters continued from where Salt left off as England were ahead of West Indies as at the end of the powerplay England were 67/1 in 6 overs. But it is in the middle overs that things changed and the complexion of the match changed. The duo of Buttler and Bethell put on 36 for the second wicket before Buttler fell for 21 off 14 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Roston Chase. Tom Banton came out to bat next.
Banton did not last long as Bethell and Banton added 11 runs to the score before Banton fell for 2 off 4 balls to Gudakesh Motie. Captain Harry Brook came out to bat next. Motie had another wicket as after 5 runs were added to the score, Bethell fell for 33 off 23 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name to Motie. England were 90/4 and at the completion of 10 overs they slipped to 93/4 from 67/1 in 6 overs of powerplay. Sam Curran came out to bat next.
Brook and Curran started to rebuild proceedings and set it up for the others to follow as England bats deep. The duo of Curran and Brook put on 41 runs for the 5th wicket before Brook fell for 17 off 14 balls with one four to his name to Motie yet again. Will Jacks came out to bat next. Jacks did not last long as just 3 runs were added to the score before he fell for 2 off 3 balls to Chase. Jamie Overton came out to bat next.
England were 135/6 in 15 overs and suddenly West Indies were favourites. Overton did not last long either as just 7 runs were added to the tally before Overton fell for 5 off 6 balls to Akeal Hosein. Jofra Archer came out to bat next. He hit a boundary as well. But now all hopes rested on Sam Curran. But he was losing partners. Archer and Curran added another 10 runs to the score before Archer fell for 6 off 4 balls with one boundary to his name as he was run out by Holder.
Liam Dawson came to the crease next. Curran tried to keep the fight going as another 10 runs were added to the score before Dawson fell to a run out for 1 off 1 ball. Adil Rashid came to the crease next. Curran managed to hit another boundary and took a single. But Rashid was holed out in the deep square leg region by Chase and it was a clean catch as Rashid fell for a golden duck. Sam was unbeaten on 43 off 30 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name. 6 extras given by the fielding side as England were bowled out for 166 in 19 overs.
The West Indies spinners outfoxed England and it was led by Gudakesh Motie who finished with 3/33 in 4 overs. Roston Chase supported him well with 2/29 in 4 overs. Roston Chase finished with 1/32 in 4 overs. Shamar Joseph finished with 1/30 in 4 overs. Romario Shepherd bowled an over and went for 7 runs and picked up one wicket. Jason Holder went for 34 runs in 2 overs. So, West Indies win by 30 runs and make it 2 wins out of 2 in Group C. Sherfane Rutherford was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
West Indies made it two wins out of two games with this comfortable win by 30 runs and are at the top of the points table. West Indies will next play Nepal and Italy in the coming days while England who went down tonight will face Scotland and Italy both matches in Kolkata. West Indies will have to face in Mumbai and Kolkata the remaining games.
More action coming your way on Day 6 of the tournament i.e. tomorrow. It will be Sri Lanka vs Oman first-up in a Group B clash at Pallekele from 11 AM IST. This will be followed by Nepal vs Italy live from Mumbai at 3 PM IST. Or feature match comes from the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi where defending champions and host nation India takes on Namibia from 7 PM IST.
So, a lot to look forward to on Thursday on another triple header day.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: West Indies Chip In With Crucial Wickets & Game Evenly Poises