The West Indies heaped more misery on the England white ball team after winning by 4 wickets with 7 balls remaining. This was England’s first game since crashing out of the ICC ODI World Cup, finishing a disappointing 7th in the group stage after being one of the pre-tournament favourites. The West Indies white ball side is looking to rebuild after a shock defeat to Scotland in the World Cup qualifiers saw them fail to reach the World Cup for the first time in their history.
New Look England Team
Many changes were expected in this series as the players who featured in the World Cup were rotated. From the starting team in this game, only 6 played in India which shows the England cricket team might not have the strength in depth they once thought. There are more questions than answers for England at the moment as there are no stand out performers with either the bat or ball.
England Won The Toss And Elected To Bat
England Captain Jos Buttler looked to have made the correct call when choosing to bat as openers Phil Salt and Will Jacks flew to 77 runs after 8.1 overs. However this fast start soon came to an end as both openers were then removed within the next over, leaving England 77/2. Ben Duckett was next out for just 20 runs as England slumped to 110/3.
Top performers with the bat were Zak Crawley (48 runs) and Harry Brook (71 runs) as England’s batting problems from the World Cup look no better. Handy knocks from bowlers Sam Curran (38 runs) and Brydon Carse (31 runs) helped England to over the 300 run mark as they finished on 325 all out from the full 50 overs.
The wickets were shared between the West Indies bowlers as Romario Shephard, Gudakesh Motie and Oshane Thomas all picked up 2 wickets. Alzarri Joseph and Yannic Cariah both took 1 wicket each.
Shai Hope’s Heroics In The Run Chase
The West Indies cricket team got off to a solid start as Alick Athanaze and Brandon King put together a 104 run partnership before both fell in quick succession. Captain Shai Hope entered the field and stepped up the run rate as he reached 50 runs from 51 balls. Shimron Hetmyer and Romario Shepherd provided good support for Hope as the West Indies gained momentum in the chase.
Shai Hope finished the game with 109 runs from 83 balls, hitting the winning runs with a six after a poorly bowled ball from Sam Curran was dispatched over deep mid-wicket and into the stands. This completed West Indies’ 2nd highest ever run chase, only 2 runs short of the 328 they chased against the Ireland cricket team in 2019.
Rehan Ahmed was the pick of the English bowlers as he took two wickets in his 10 overs for only 40 runs, this slowed down the run rate in the middle overs and gave England a great chance of victory. Unfortunately, seam bowlers Sam Curran, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse were all expensive with their economies. It was the worst bowling display of Sam Curran’s career as he bowled 9.5 overs for 98 runs and took 0 wickets.
What’s Next For England?
England still have 2 more games to play in this ODI series, before a 5 part T20 also against the West Indies. The next test cricket England will play is in January as they travel to India to take on the India national cricket team in a 5 match test series.
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