Powell and Pooran give West Indies the lead in T20 series

(Cricket news) The third T20 of the England tour of West Indies saw the hosts take the lead with a 20 run victory in a high scoring encounter. Eoin Morgan, Chris Jordan and Saqib Mahmood sat on the bench as Moeen Ali led the team. England won the toss and opted to bowl first as it was the batters who controlled the match from the start. George Garton made his debut for the England team with the first wicket of the match as he knocked off the bails to dismiss Brandon King. Nicholas Pooran started the big hitting as opener Shai Hope was only a spectator at the other end, after Hope’s dismissal it all went downhill for England.

Rovman Powell and Pooran put on a 122 run partnership for the third wicket as the team was heading for a big total. Powell brought up his maiden century in 51 balls in the 19th over as they were already above the 200 run mark. Kieron Pollard then hit three boundaries in the final over as the team scored their third highest total in the format and the highest against England. It was going to be a tough chase for the England side as they had never gone past the 200 run mark against West Indies. Adil Rashid was the only from his side to keep the economy under 7 as he took the wicket of Pooran and is now 2 wickets away from becoming the joint highest wicket taker along with Jordan who is on top with 70 wickets. Reece Topley continued his form from the previous match as he gave 30 runs in 4 overs while taking the wicket of Powell.

West Indies kept their control throughout the match as the bowlers never gave the England batters the run flow. Romario Shepherd provided the first wicket when he sent back Jason Roy after getting for a six in the first ball as the batter tried to clear the ropes once again. Tom Banton scored his second half century in T20s in 30 balls and looked to be the savior for the team but Pollard made sure his stay was not for long when the batter was caught by Jason Holder. Pollard made his contribution with the wickets of Banton and Moeen Ali.

After Banton’s dismissal in the 13th over, the team still needed 90 runs from 7 overs. Philip Salt could not have had a better debut as he started going big in the next few overs and now the team needed 41 from 12 balls, Sheldon Cottrell then bowled the over of the match when he took 2 wickets for 3 runs in the 19th over. England now needed 38 from the last over and Shepherd bowled a wide in the first ball as the team also ran a single for the now the team needed 36 in 6 deliveries. Salt hit the next 2 balls for sixes for a half century in 22 balls and attempted a third one but could not protect his stumps as the match was over for the team.

West Indies now lead the 5 match T20 series 2-1. The fourth T20 will be played on January 29 and England will need a win to stay alive in the series.

West Indies: 224/5 in 20 overs

England: 204/9 in 20 overs

Player of the match: Rovman powell, 107 off 53 balls (6×10, 4×4)

Also read: Roach returns to West Indies for ODIs in India

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