The third T20I between West Indies and England proved to be a nightmare for the bowlers of both teams. With 428 runs scored from 40 overs, the match was packed with sky-touching sixes. Finally, however, West Indies came on top, winning by 20 runs.
Let’s look at the critical proceedings from this contest.
Powell bet worked for Windies
WI lost their openers inside five overs, and it was looking like England were spot on in choosing to bowl first after winning the toss. But it was the already settled Nicholas Pooran, and the new last-minute addition to the Windies squad, Rovman Powell, who built the game for their team.
Nicholas Pooran smashed 70 runs with a strike rate of 162.79. Rovman Powell bettered him and scored his maiden century, ultimately owning the English bowlers. His 107-run innings had a control percentage of 72%, making the most of the slog shot, garnering 43 runs alone from that.
On the other hand, only Adil Rashid was effective from the English bowlers, bagging a wicket at an economy of 6.20. It was a disappointing show from English bowlers, barring Rashid and Reece Topley.
Banton and Salt lacked support
Tom Banton and Phil Salt were the only standouts who carried the England batting after Jason Roy fell early for 19. While Banton displayed a better shot control than Powell from the first innings (82%), his effort of 73 runs off 39 balls proved to be wasteful due to the fragileness displayed by the other batters.
The late fight by Phil Salt made the game more interesting in the second half of England’s batting. The debutant smashed 57 runs off only 24 balls, but the game had already gone far ahead of England by that time.
For Windies bowlers, even though they too got smashed like their English counterparts, the wickets befalling at consistent intervals of the English batting lineup was a clear difference. It was complemented by their captain Keiron Pollard’s efficient use of good length, which took out crucial runs from England’s run total.
Way forward
The match gave the highest aggregate score in a T20I game in the West Indies. The West Indies power hitters saw through the day for them. And for England, the concern expressed by Eoin Morgan in the last game came true. Their inability to grasp the game in the end parts of the match saw them going away from the winning result this time.
Nonetheless, they have some positives to take from here, especially Phil Salt, considering they played three debutants in the match. So a rebound from here is reasonably possible, and for West Indies, they will be looking to seal the series win in the next game.
