West Indies v England 1st T20I Barbados
West Indies won the toss & elected to field
England 103 All out (19.4 overs) Jordan 28 Rashid 22 Morgan 17 Vince 14 Holder 4-7 Cotterell 2-20
West Indies 104-1 (17.1 overs) King 52 no Pooran 27 no Hope 20
West Indies won by 9 wickets
Live coverage of the 5 match T20I series on BT Sports, radio commentary on Talk Sport 2.
The 5 T20I are all at Bridgetown Barbados, on 22,23,26,29 & 30 Jan. 20.00 GMT
After sliding to 49-7, England were indebted to a 36 run 8th wicket partnership between Jordan who hit 3 sixes & top scored, & Rashid who was dismissed in the final over. Before they came together they looked likely to record their lowest T20I total, & did well to post a 3 figure score.
You would assume that just one partnership will be enough to guide the West Indies towards their target.
2nd T20 International
West Indies won toss and field
England: 171/8
Roy 45, Moeen 31. Holder 2/25
West Indies: 170/8
Shepherd 44 no, Hosein 44no
Moeen 3/24, Rashid 2/24
England won by 1 run
England contrived to almost throw it away
WEst Indies v England 2nd T20I Bridgetown
West Indies won the toss & elected to field
ENG 171-8 Roy 45 Ali 31 Jordan 27 Banton 25 Holder 2-25 Allen 2-50
WI 170-8 Shepherd 44 no Hosein 44 no Pooran 24 D Bravo 23 Ali 3-24 Rashid 2-24
England won by 1 runs
West Indies were 98 -8 after 15.1 overs until Shepherd & Hosein added 72 runs, with 9 sixes between them, as they came up agonizingly short. The 18th over from Jordan went for 23, & Mahmood conceded 28 from the last over. Make no mistake, they are a dangerous side, if a little inconsistent.
West Indies England 3d T20I Bridgetown Barbados
England won the toss & elected to field
WI 224-5 (20 overs) Powell 107 no Pooran 70
ENG 204-9 (20 overs) Banton 73 Salt 57 Pollard 2-31 Shepherd 3-59
West Indies won by 20 runs
England only made one change from the 1st match, with Topley replacing Mills. Today we see 5 changes, Morgan had a slight niggle during the warm-up, so Moeen Ali will captain the side, Billings is unwell, so Banton will keep wicket. Jordan is rested, Dawson & Mahmood are replaced. Livingstone makes his first appearance of the series after illness, Mills returns, & there are debuts for Salt, Brook & Garton. Salt is listed at No.7 which is strange as he almost always opens. For me Salt is hot property, his form demands a spot, England are showing a lot of loyalty to Banton, who we have only seen glimpses of his talent.
West Indies make just the one change, with Rovman Powell replacing Odean Smith.
West Indies innings was largely down to a 122 3rd wicket partnership between Pooran 70 (43 balls) & Powell 107 (53 balls) both batsmen hit 4 boundaries, Pooran struck 5 sixes, & Powell 10.
This match could go one of 2 ways, either a heavy defeat, or they'll get close. This is a good batting surface, England have the power hitters, but lack experience.
If only England had batted Salt at no.3 instead of six, then maybe they could've chased down the target. sticking with Banton has finally been justified as he delivered, another 6 overs at the crease would've see him reach his own century 7 an almost certain win, that is the next step for him, to get his team over the line. in these 2 players, you could be looking at the future white-ball opening partnership.
I'm not sure than England had any alternative batsmen, after Billings illness & Morgan's injury, but Livingstone was clearly still unwell during his short stay at the crease.
A bigger concern would be the bowling, as Garton came in for some heavy punishment after an early wicket. Rashid showed his class, but the West Indies sat on him & attacked the other bowlers. Topley was the best of the rest. Getting Archer fit is a priority, with Jordan looking shaky at the death in recent times. We wont have any realistic chance at the upcoming World Cup without good death bowling.
It was sad to see the likes of Bravo & Gayle trying to give it one last hurrah at the previous World Cup, age has long since caught up with those 2, & if the selectors had put sentiment aside, & gone with this younger, vibrant side, they could've really competed, & gone deeper into the tournament, gaining valuable experience with the next World Cup around the corner.