England have lit up the T20 World Cup with a resounding victory. West Indies’ 8-match winning streak comes to an end. The Windies batters were not quite on the money tonight. 5 of their top 6 batters got off to starts but couldn’t make a substantial impact. England’s death bowling was brilliant and that what turned the tide even more in their favour. 180 on a good batting deck was a bit under-par and England proved that in their run-chase. Salt and Buttler took their side off to a great start navigating through the powerplay in style. It was Chase who got the better of the English skipper and Russell struck soon after to get rid of Moeen. But by then, England were in firm control of the match. Bairstow played fluently from the moment he came in and that made things even easier for the Englishmen. Salt raised a fifty and changed gears thereafter. He went beserk against Shepherd and took 30 off an over to kill the game. Eventually, England sailed to a comfortable victory with 15 balls to spare.
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This is England’s clinical performance. They demonstrate to everyone why they are the defending champs, and they do so against a West Indies squad that has won eight straight Twenty20 international matches. Nothing demonstrates England’s ability to recover more than their death-overs performance, even though they were under pressure at different points when King and Charles got off to a flier when Powell and Rutherford made surprise appearances, and when the West Indies spinners were performing. Following the Powell-Pooran stand, they retaliated and never truly looked back.
Salt struggled following the powerplay, but he was still able to remain in the game and keep the score from dropping. It was apt that he delivered the decisive blow against Shepherd with a 30-run over. Naturally, with Bairstow in tow. He demonstrated why England wanted him to bat at number four in this competition. Despite not truly hitting in the middle of the order much, experience abounds.
Match Summary
England Playing Xl:
- Philip Salt
- Jos Buttler (c & wk)
- Jonny Bairstow
- Harry Brook
- Moeen Ali
- Liam Livingstone
- Sam Curran
- Jofra Archer
- Adil Rashid
- Mark Wood
- Reece Topley
West Indies Playing Xl:
- Brandon King
- Johnson Charles
- Nicholas Pooran (wk)
- Roston Chase
- Rovman Powell (c)
- Sherfane Rutherford
- Andre Russell
- Romario Shepherd
- Akeal Hosein
- Alzarri Joseph
- Gudakesh Motie
Player Of The Match (POTM):
- Phil Salt, ENG 87* (47)
Top Scorers:
- Phil Salt, ENG 87* (47)
Toss:
- England won the toss and decided to bowl first.
- Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia