Jelani Beckles
WEST Indies finally got off the mark in the five-match T20 series against England, winning the fourth encounter by five wickets in a high-scoring match at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia on November 16. England now lead the series 3-1 with one match to play.
England posted a healthy 218/5 in 20 overs batting first and West Indies responded with 221/5 in 19 overs. The West Indies top-order batting has been struggling during the series, which led to England winning the first three matches convincingly.
West Indies got a destructive opening stand from Evin Lewis and Shai Hope as the pair put on 136 for the first wicket. In the first three matches, West Indies lost wickets during the powerplay and struggled to score a competitive total batting first.
Lewis and Hope found the boundaries regularly on this occasion as they combined to hit 11 fours and ten sixes in nine overs. Spinner Rehan Ahmed then led the fightback with two wickets in the tenth over. In the first ball of the over, Lewis was dismissed for 68 and on the very next ball Hope was run out for 54. Lewis struck four fours and seven sixes in his 31-ball innings and Hope belted seven fours and three sixes in his 24-ball knock.
It was three wickets in three balls for England as Pooran was bowled for duck by Ahmed.
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England were now back in the contest with the score 136/3 in the tenth over. Windies captain Rovman Powell played a crucial knock as his 38 off 23 balls helped push his team closer to the target. After Powell fell, Sherfane Rutherford’s 29 not out off 17 with three sixes ensured West Indies got over the line with one over to spare.
Batting first, Jacob Bethell struck an unbeaten 62 off 32 deliveries (four fours, five sixes) to propel England past 200. Opener Phil Salt cracked 55 off 35 and captain Jos Buttler smacked 38 off 23 to boost the total.
The Windies’ bowling figures did not make for pretty reading as 2/40 in four overs from left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie was the best effort on the day. Fellow left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, who has had a promising series, had a forgettable day as he ended with 0/40 in three overs.
The final match of the series will be played on November 17 from 4 pm in St Lucia.
SCOREBOARD
ENGLAND
+Phil Salt c +Pooran b Chase*55
Will Jacks c +Pooran b Joseph*25
*Jos Buttler c Chase b Motie*38
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Jacob Bethell not out*62
Liam Livingstone c Hetmyer b Motie*4
Sam Curran run out*24
Extras (b1, lb6, nb1, w2)*10
TOTAL (five wickets; 20 overs)*218
Did not bat: Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Saqib Mahmood, Rehan Ahmed, John Turner.
Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-102, 3-129, 4-155, 5-218.
Bowling: McCoy 4-0-40-0, Joseph 4-0-33-1, Hosein 3-0-40-0, Motie 4-0-40-2, Powell 1-0-11-0, Chase 4-0-47-1.
WEST INDIES
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Evin Lewis c Mousley b Ahmed*68
Shai Hope run out*54
+Nicholas Pooran b Ahmed*0
*Rovman Powell lbw b Turner*38
Shimron Hetmyer c Livingstone b Ahmed*7
Sherfane Rutherford not out*29
Roston Chase not out*9
Extras (lb5, w11)*16
TOTAL (five wickets; 20 overs)*221
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Did not bat: Gudakesh Motie, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy.
Fall of wickets: 1-136, 2-136, 3-136, 4-172, 5-196.
Bowling: Turner 4-0-42-1, Mahmood 4-1-24-0, Curran 3-0-41-0, Mousley 3-0-36-0, Ahmed 4-0-43-3, Livingstone 1-0-30-0.
Toss: England.
Result: West Indies won by five wickets and trail 1-3 in the best-of-five series.
Player-of-the-Match: Shai Hope.
Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite, Zahid Bassarath.
TV Umpire: Deighton Butler.
Reserve Umpire: Leslie Reifer.
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Match Referee: Richie Richardson.
