West Indies beat England by nine wickets in the first T20 international to take a 1–0 lead in the five-match series; Jason Holder took it 4-7 when the Tourists were eliminated for 103; Brandon King then went on an undefeated 52 as the hosts cruised to victory with 17 deliveries to spare.
Jason Holder took 4-7 as England were eliminated 103 in Barbados
Jason Holder took it 4-7 as England were eliminated 103 en route to a nine-wicket comprehensive loss to the West Indies in the first T20 international in Barbados.
England quickly found themselves in trouble after being asked to bat when Holder and Sheldon Cottrell did damage with the new ball, reducing the visitors to 10-3, which quickly became 29-5 and then 49-7.
It took a 36-run position between Chris Jordan (28) and Adil Rashid (22) for the eighth wicket to bring England to anything close to respectability before Holder finished innings with two balls to spare.
Brandon King then hit an unbeaten 52 as the West Indies calmly knocked down the runs with 17 balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the five-game series.
The positive for England is that they have less than 24 hours to wait before trying to fix things, with the second T20 taking place at the same venue on Sunday.
In the draw, Eoin Morgan insisted that he would have chosen to bat first as his goal is to work towards establishing a total before another T20 World Cup at the end of the year and if it was a challenge he wanted, he got it like three. the wickets fell in the first two overs.
Jason Roy (6) was the first to go, losing the middle stump as he advanced on Cottrell, the ball after advancing to break the left arm lock for six. It then passed into the hands of Holder.
The big all-rounder found a swing touch and was able to use his height to extract an extra bounce off the surface, with that combination helping him find the outside edge of Tom Banton (4). Nicholas Pooran risked failure.
Moeen Ali came and went, cutting her first ball back to set Holder up for a hat-trick. He couldn’t quite get it, but hitting was proving extremely difficult and two maidens followed before James Vince came up behind Cottrell (2-30).
Back-to-back bounds were followed by a top-edge hook for six, only for Vince (14) to hit the next ball – short, wide and begging to be hit – straight to cover and becoming the second of three England batsmen to drop the ball. ball after hitting a max.
The initial damage had been done by closers, but Akeal Hosein showed there was plenty in the field for spinners as well, passing the ball past Sam Billings (2), who stumped for a mile to finish seventh.
Morgan and Liam Dawson (2) tried to rebuild and made it to the middle of the innings, but a calamitous run off the ball after drinks sent the latter back into the arena and Morgan (17) was not far behind, crushing Romario Shepherd. over offside for six before being fooled by a slower ball next and selecting Kieron Pollard in coverage.
Jordan and Rashid at least managed to provide some resistance over the next five overs, Jordan pounding three big sixes before pocketing Fabian Allen in the 17th and then it was left to Holder to finish out the innings, castled Rashid with the ball. after firing Saqib Mahmood (5).
England desperately needed early wickets to give them any chance of defending such a low total, but as the West Indies did not need to take any chances and the field had steadily improved during the match, there was none.
King and Shai Hope easily overcame the power play, played the situation smart and turned the chase into something of a non-event.
Rashid (1-21) took out Hope (20) with an excellent leg break, Billings with quick hands to complete the stroke, and Dawson (0-12) offered as much threat as any England bowler in a tidy spell, but the result was never in doubt.
King and Pooran (27 no) steered the home team towards their goal before King, the over after drawing his second 47-ball T20 fifty, scored the winning run from the first ball of the 18.
After a disappointing start, England will try to bounce back on Sunday and show why they are the No.1 T20 team in the world.
England Captain Eoin Morgan: “West Indies dominated the game early on. We lost wickets early, we didn’t seem to adapt well enough running, which is what you have to do when you’re challenged like that with movement and a little bit of rebound. We’ll have to come back tomorrow with a new plan.” game and try to execute it better because I think the conditions have a chance of being very similar.
West Indies Captain Kieron Pollard: “That’s the model we’re asking the guys to come up with. Really happy for the guys. Going out there and winning a game isn’t easy, watching the young guys go out there and finish it was fantastic. Sometimes when you get four wickets before the guys they can relax, but they know the importance of sticking to plans. This is only the first of five, but winning games is not easy.”
England and the West Indies meet again in the second international T20 starting at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday with the games on January 26, 29 and 30 completing the five-game series.
Meanwhile, Heather Knight’s England team will try to level things up in the ashes of woman as they take on Australia in the third T20 in the early hours of Sunday morning. Australia leads the multi-format series 3-1.
