Defending champions England secured an emphatic eight-wicket victory over the West Indies in their T20 World Cup Super Eight encounter held in St. Lucia on Wednesday.
England successfully chased down the West Indies’ competitive total of 180-4, reaching their target in the 18th over, largely propelled by Phil Salt’s impressive 87 and Jonny Bairstow’s 48. Skipper Jos Buttler contributed 25 runs to their successful chase.
Earlier, Johnson Charles top-scored with 38 runs as the West Indies set England a challenging target of 181 runs to win.
In response, a disciplined bowling effort from England restricted the West Indies to 180-4 in their allotted 20 overs, setting up a closely contested match in Group 2 at the Daren Sammy National Stadium.
Choosing to bowl after winning the toss, England initially faced a solid start from West Indies openers Brandon King and Johnson Charles. Despite King retiring hurt for 23 in the fifth over, the hosts continued to accumulate runs, with Charles forming a valuable partnership with Nicholas Pooran.
At the halfway mark of their innings, the West Indies were well-placed at 82-0 and appeared set for a formidable total. However, England’s Moeen Ali broke through by dismissing Charles, caught by Harry Brook in the deep for 38 runs off 34 balls in the 12th over.
West Indies captain Rovman Powell then accelerated the scoring, smashing five sixes on his way to a rapid 36 off just 17 deliveries. However, his aggressive innings came to an end when Liam Livingstone claimed his wicket with the final ball of the 15th over, caught by Mark Wood at short third man.
With Pooran falling soon after, caught behind by Buttler off Jofra Archer, the West Indies stumbled to 141-3. Andre Russell’s quick departure for one run off Adil Rashid further dented their momentum, before Sherfane Rutherford’s quickfire unbeaten 28 runs helped them post a more competitive total.
Rashid was the standout bowler for England, finishing with figures of 1-21 from his four overs.
Teams:
West Indies: 1 Brandon King, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Roston Chase, 5 Rovman Powell (capt), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sherfane Rutherford, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Gudakesh Motie
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 3 Jonny Bairstow, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Mark Wood, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley
