(Cricket News) West Indies romped to a 2-0 series lead with a victory in Grenada that was far more decisive than the final 10-run margin would have you believe. Such a result did not seem on the cards when a collapse of 4 for 11 in 16 balls left West Indies rocking at 54 for 4 in the ninth over of the match, at which point England’s twin-spin attack of Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed was in complete command of the contest.
Brandon King and Rovman Powell produced the power surge that England’s renowned white-ball hitters could not even close to replicating. However, West Indies unexpectedly turned the tables, first through a pair of half-centuries from Powell, who hammered thirty runs from Sam Curran’s second and penultimate over, and King, whose outstanding unbeaten 82 from 52 included four fours and three sixes off Rehan’s final twelve deliveries.
Then, needing to defend a tough but manageable 177, the West Indies applied their spin stranglehold, with left-armers Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie locking down the match for eight straight overs from the Pavilion End, combining for a combined figure of 3 for 33. Despite Curran’s fortitude in topping the score with 50 from 32 balls following his stern bowling demonstration, a requirement of 28 off the final over proved too much for Rehan and Moeen Ali.
In the first T20I, West Indies’s victory was owed to a familiar feature: their pain-train of batsmen outscored England by 14 sixes to six. In the end, 13 played eight, including Rehan’s penultimate ball slap over point when the game was already lost.
Nevertheless, England seemed to have countered that threat for the first half of their bowling effort. Three of the West Indies’ sixes came in the powerplay, but so did 18 dot-balls, or half of their allotment, as the recalled Moeen burgled a three-run opening over before Chris Woakes’ cunning use of the cutter gave him the upper hand in a close battle with Kyle Mayers.
Having won the toss, Jos Buttler had no qualms about bowling first after knowing that a formidable chase was likely. After all, their eventual target was not nearly as tough as he might have expected, but England was still far behind. He fondly remembered the historic 46-six ODI on this same ground in 2019.
