England let a dominant position slip as they fell to a four-wicket defeat by West Indies in the opening game of the T20 series in Bridgetown.
Captain Jos Buttler and Phil Salt took the tourists to 77-0 at the end of the powerplay and that became 112-2 at the halfway stage before England collapsed in the second half of the innings to be bowled out for 171. Andre Russell, making his first West Indies appearance since November 2021, was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3-19, while Romario Shepherd also impressed with figures of 2-22.
The Windies also made a flying start to their innings before being pegged back, with England leg-spinner Adil Rashid taking his 100th T20 international wicket in his 100th match.
After a brief delay for rain, Rehan Ahmed ramped up the pressure on the hosts with two wickets in two balls, only for West Indies to hit back again through the experienced pair of captain Rovman Powell and Russell.
With the required rate rising, Powell smacked Liam Livingstone for back-to-back sixes to put the home side back in the ascendency and, with Russell soon joining the fun, West Indies ruthlessly finished the job.
Powell ended unbeaten on 31 from 15 balls and Russell hit the winning runs with 11 balls to spare to finish 29 not out from 14. The teams now head to Grenada for the second T20 on Thursday, with West Indies 1-0 up in the five-match series.
England fail to strike the right balance
Having been asked to bat first, England's openers – Salt, in particular – came out swinging and, by the end of the powerplay, Powell could have been forgiven for doubting his decision at the toss. Salt was at his destructive best, showing all the bravery, power and intent that England crave from those at the top of the order.
That allowed Buttler to be marginally more circumspect, while still producing a number of shots that will give England hope the skipper's best form may not be too far away.
Neither opener was able to go on and those following were perhaps too determined to immediately try and pick up where they left off. It was only once momentum had truly been lost that Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone decided it might be worth giving themselves an over or two to get set.
By then, though, the margin for error had been significantly reduced so that when Livingstone – after starting to find his range with a pair of sixes – dragged on, West Indies were into the bowlers and the momentum was halted again.
Batting did get tougher the longer the innings went on, for both sides, and had the rain not arrived when it did, undoubtedly altering conditions, perhaps the bowlers might have been able to get England over the line.
But after scoring only 59 and losing eight wickets in the last 10 overs of their own innings, England cannot put this defeat down to the conditions or any kind of hard luck. With four games left in the series and six months until their T20 World Cup defence, there is time to put things right.
But, for now, England are still struggling to strike the right balance with the bat.
‘A top performance' – reaction
England captain Jos Buttler: “It was always going to get hard, the way the pitch played. But from the position we were in, we were looking for a score more around 200.
“We want to keep pushing the boundaries and be as positive as we can but it is finding the ways to keep scoring in that way.
“As it got harder and harder, trying to minimise dot balls and pick off certain areas – that extra 20-25 runs in unfashionable ways. That's something we can reflect on.”
Player of the match, West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell: “Life is so funny. When I got selected, I keep dreaming, for two weeks now, that I would be man of the match.”
West Indies captain Rovman Powell: “It's a top performance. After we came out of the powerplay, we got information about what the pitch is doing, and it's good to see our batters stand up for the counting.
“There's still room to grow, we haven't controlled the powerplay particularly well. Once we can, a lot of teams don't have power hitters and they'll be on the back foot trying to catch up on the back end.”
— CutC by bbc.com
