England got an easy victory over West Indies in a thrilling match of Super Eight of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The West Indies were defeated in Saint Lucia by the reigning ICC Men’s T20 World Cup champions, who have stormed their way back to prominence.
The co-hosts suffered their first loss of the competition as a result, and they are currently positioned in the bottom part of Group 2. In addition, they have to worry about Brandon King, the opener, who strained his side while batting.
King and Johnson Charles led a formidable West Indies attack that launched the powerplay with confidence.
Before receiving the devastating blow, the duo had the hosts flying at 40/0 early in the fifth over. King had to leave the game hurt after appearing to have a groin ailment while trying to drive a Sam Curran ball down the field.
Charles was joined at the crease by the form of Nicholas Pooran, who helped them reach 54 runs at the six-over stage, a respectable haul for the Powerplay.
In the ninth over, Pooran hit a long leg side six off a ball played by Mark Wood, but England tightened the screws and bowled them out before refreshments. That was the last boundary before the halfway point of the inning. With no wickets lost, the West Indies amassed 82 runs in the first ten overs.In the ninth over, Pooran hit a long leg side six off a ball played by Mark Wood, but England tightened the screws and bowled them out before refreshments. That was the last boundary before the halfway point of the inning. With no wickets lost, the West Indies amassed 82 runs in the first ten overs.
After a few drinks, Charles ended the short-term boundary drought by successfully cutting the long rope off a longer Adil Rahid delivery. But in the following over, Moeen Ali produced the game-changing wicket, England’s first of the innings, forcing Charles (38 off 34) to leave.
When Captain Rovman Powell showed up, he quickly exacted his retribution by hitting a maximum over Ali’s head to end the 12th over.
After a thrilling period of play in which Powell and Pooran applied maximum pressure, Liam Livingstone took the vital wicket of Powell (36 off 17) to finish over 15.
In the last five overs, the English came out with some fight. Pooran was dismissed for 36 off 32 when Jofra Archer found the edge of his bat.
In the final few overs, Sherfane Rutherford (28* off 15) commanded the strike to lead the Windies to 180/4.
With 51 dot balls produced in the field, England started their run chase with confidence.
With seven boundaries in the powerplay, including one of the biggest sixes of the tournament thus far, out of the middle of Phil Salt’s bat, openers Jos Buttler and Salt set a solid platform.
At six overs, England reached 58 for no loss, just ahead of the Windies’ total.
In the eighth over, Roston Chase came to bat and eventually removed one of England’s openers, trapping Buttler (25 off 22) out LBW.
When he got to the crease, Ali swept two nine-over fours, including a creative reverse sweep using his bat’s back.
England was 83/1 at halftime, almost exactly the same situation as the Windies.
Drinks worked in the hosts’ favor as Ali was dismissed for holing out to Charles at deep midwicket on a shorter delivery of the of the first ball following the interval.
By the end of the 12th over, Jonny Bairstow had taken England past three figures (101/2), and the English and the West Indies were still tied for the same run rate.
However, Bairstow halted England’s momentum by reducing the necessary run rate in overs 13 and 14 with a flurry of boundaries. The audience in Saint Lucia was subsequently stunned by a hat-trick of boundaries off Akeal Hosein in the fifteenth over.
Salt then took back control of the game, opening the costly 16th over with a 38-ball 50 and four runs. With 30 runs off the six balls of Romario Shepherd’s over, Salt hit a boundary on each of them.
And halfway through the eighteenth over, Bairstow brought England to a resounding victory.
The English advanced to the tournament’s knockout round.