Watch cricket video highlights of England tour of West Indies 2024. First Twenty/20 between West Indies and England. Venue of the match will be Bridgetown.
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England took a 1-0 lead in their five-match T20I series in Barbados after defeating the West Indies by eight wickets thanks to an outstanding unbeaten century from Phil Salt. Despite lurching to 117 for 8, the West Indies hammered their way through three crucial partnerships to set England a high total. Saqib Mahmood had career-best figures of 4 for 34, including three wickets in the powerplay and a tight over at the end.
Nicholas Pooran, the team’s top scorer, and captain Rovman Powell combined for 41 runs from just 17 balls, but Pooran and Andre Russell defied a steady stream of wickets to add 39 from 26. The hosts were then boosted by tailenders Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd, who each scored 49 off 26. However, Salt’s incredible 103 not out off just 54 balls made their efforts ultimately in nothing. He attacked right away, helping himself to 22 runs off one Shamar Joseph over and never looked back.
It was a case of two second-home boys doing well as Salt, who lived in Barbados for six of his preteen and teenage years, shared an uninterrupted 107-run partnership with Jacob Bethell, who, having been born and raised in Barbados until the age of 13, raised his first T20I fifty to roaring cheers from the crowd. England appeared to be in control when Salt hit five straight boundaries off Joseph in the fourth over of the run-chase to push his team beyond the 50-mark.
He hit the second of three sixes off Motie’s first over, crunching over deep midwicket, before Will Jacks hit the third over long-on to reach his own half-century off 25 balls. By the time England finished the powerplay at 73 for 1, compared to the West Indies’ 58 for 3, Jacks had fallen on the following ball and bowled middle stump in an effort to sweep. Jos Buttler, who was batting at No. 3 on his comeback from a five-month injury layoff, was removed for a first-ball duck by Motie’s stunning one-handed grab at third.
Even though Salt had a lot of spectacular hitting, his skillful four-ball punch right behind backward point off Joseph in the ninth over was more beautiful than any of his four sixes to that point and demonstrated the variety of hits that made up his innings. As he settled into just his third innings in T20Is, Bethell imitated the stroke, a little finer off Shepherd. He played the ideal supporting role to Salt, achieving an undefeated 58 off 36 balls, including a beautiful six over cover off the last delivery.
With 3.1 overs remaining, he pulled Shepherd for two to secure victory. He soon followed it with the winning runs. The ball went between Sherfane Rutherford’s clutches as he fell over the boundary for six more after Salt had moved into the nineties swinging Shepherd to square leg. He then reached his century in what ended up being the final over of the match with four down the ground. Salt’s third century in Twenty20 Internationals came against the West Indies in the Caribbean.
Brandon King, a centurion who helped the West Indies win the third and final ODI to win the series 2-1, hit his sixth ball, the eleventh of the game, straight to short cover to give Mahmood the lead early. Bethell removed Evin Lewis with a wonderful low catch sprinting in from the rope at deep backward square, and then lured Shimron Hetmyer with a superb length ball that shifted ever so slightly as it edged through to Salt, giving Mahmood two wickets in his next over.
Mahmood made a remarkable recovery, playing in just his third Twenty20 International since January 2022 following two stress fractures to his spine. He was at 3 for 12 from two overs, although his previous two games in the format had resulted in 2 for 21 and no wickets for 37 against Australia in September. Powell’s nurdled four through deep third and six over square leg right before Topley stumbled in his follow-through holding his right knee were among the 20 runs from 15 balls that fellow seamer Reece Topley gave up.
A quick downpour sent the players off the field for little over 30 minutes, and Topley was clearly hobbling. When Topley came back after the delay, Powell’s lofted drive for six was enough to take him off the field for the remainder of the innings with what was subsequently determined to be a jarred knee as Jamie Overton completed his third over. Pooran heaved over the fence at wide long-on, threaded a four through deep backward point, and swung over deep midwicket for another six, but Mahmood returned to have his figures ruined after giving up 18 runs off his third over.
Adil Powell went big again but was unable to clear a leaping Overton just inside the boundary at long-on after Rashid joined the attack in the seventh over and hit with his second delivery. Despite giving Salt the wicketkeeping gloves, returning skipper Buttler showed lightning-fast reflexes and removed Rutherford with a superb one-handed catch at slip in Rashid’s following over. Russell and Pooran formed a formidable partnership, with Russell hitting consecutive sixes off Rashid and reaching a 30 off 16 balls.
However, Liam Livingstone was able to break off their relationship when he had Russell caught at deep cover by Dan Mousley after he had his third ball placed back over his head for six. Pooran trailed for 38 when he was caught by Buttler again, this time spectacularly, sending him flying high and writhing in the covers off Overton. West Indies seems committed to ending on a high note. With a superb leg-break on the second try, Rashid pinned Akeal Hosein to earn his third.
Motie stormed to the crease at No. 10 and hit 16 runs off the first three balls he faced, including back-to-back sixes from Rashid, just when it appeared like the hosts’ comeback would be over. By the time Mahmood caught him on the deep midwicket boundary to take his fourth wicket of the game, he had soared to 33 off only 14 balls. The partnership helped the West Indies reach a score that had previously thought improbable. It concluded Motie’s ninth-wicket stand with Shepherd, who finished with an undefeated 35 off 22.
