West Indies beat England by four wickets at Kensington Oval last night in the first T20I to go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
England were sent in to bat and posted an under par 171 all out in 19.3 overs after a Jekyll & Hyde display with the bat. The hosts won with 11 balls remaining, finishing on 172-6 in 18.1 overs thanks in part to a player of the match performance from the returning Andre Russell.
The visitors got off to a blistering start in the capital as openers Phil Salt and captain Jos Buttler raced to 77-0 after the powerplay. That is where things went drastically wrong for England.
One ball after the powerplay, Salt again needed television replays to decide he was out caught, this time he was slogging to the deep midwicket boundary where Shimron Hetmyer took a great catch.
Will Jacks and Ben Duckett made starts, 17 and 14, respectively, but the feeble middle order showed its frailties once again as England lost 10 wickets for just 94 runs.
On his return to West Indies cricket after two years, Russell was key to the collapse with three for 29 as his pace with the new ball and subsequent variations tied the English up in knots.
West Indies were similarly free scoring at the start of their chase, hitting 30 runs off just two overs and ending the powerplay on 59-1. Opener Brandon King was the first to go, appearing to square cut to the boundary Chris Woakes before Ben Duckett took a spectacular grab to dismiss him.
In came Shai Hope, the region’s premier batsman, and he showed his class immediately as he nonchalantly caressed a full Woakes delivery past the mid-on fielder for four runs before anyone could move.
With West Indies comfortable, Buttler went to his best bowler Adil Rashid and he duly prised out Kyle Mayers (35) with a skiddy shorter delivery that the Barbadian couldn’t resist throwing the bat at. Mayers under hit it and left Jacks with the easiest of tasks to complete the catch at long on.
England’s twin leg spinners at opposite ends of their careers (Rehan Ahmed is 19, while Rashid is 35) did well to make a contest of the proceedings, taking five wickets between them. Ahmed was on a hat trick at one point, having tempted Hope to lift him over the top only for him to hole out on 36 runs and then getting Romario Shepherd on a golden duck, caught at first slip.
Despite that stumble, the victors would be the West Indies and the win was sealed in apt fashion, as Russell slapped a Sam Curran delivery over backward point for four, to send West Indians home with a smile.
The series travels to the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada as the two sides face off again on Thursday and Saturday.
Summarised Scores: England 171 all out in 19.3 overs (Phil Salt 40, Jos Buttler 39; Andre Russell 3-29).
West Indies 172-6 in 18.1 overs (Shai Hope 36, Kyle Mayers 35; Rehan Ahmed 3-39, Adil Rashid 2-25).
West Indies win by four wickets.
