Windies top order collapses, England take unassailable 3-0 T20 series lead

ENGLAND took an unassailable 3-0 lead in their five-match Twenty/20 international series versus West Indies on November 14 when they got a three-wicket win at the Daren Sammy Cricket Stadium, St Lucia.

England won the toss and sent the Windies in to have first strike, and they had them reeling at 37 for five before a Rovman Powell-led fightback pulled the Caribbean team up to 145 for eight.

Powell clouted a top score of 54 from 41 balls and shared in a 73-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Romario Shepherd (30 off 28 balls) after seamer Saqib Mahmood (three for 17) ripped through the top order with the scalps of Evin Lewis (three), Roston Chase (seven) and Shimron Hetmyer (two). Jamie Overton chipped in with figures of three for 20.

Defending a subpar total, the Windies needed an almost perfect effort in the field and with the ball, and left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein did his part with a magical spell of four for 22 as he removed the dangerous pair of Phil Salt and captain Jos Buttler (both four) in the power play, to go along with the wickets of Liam Livingstone and Dan Mousley.

With England crawling to 42 for three after the power play, their innings was aided by a steadying 38-run partnership between opener Will Jacks (32 off 33) and allrounder Sam Curran (41 off 26).

After Gudakesh Motie (one for 27) saw the back of Jacks at the end of the 11th over, Windies wicket-keeper Nicholas Pooran critically dropped new batsman Livingstone (39 off 28) in consecutive overs off the bowling of the returning Alzarri Joseph (one for 37) and Motie. The first chance saw Livingstone outfoxed by a rapid Joseph bouncer, but Pooran couldn't hold on to a running catch as he headed towards third man.

Livingstone was put down on six and eight, and with the hosts defending a modest total, it was a big dent in the Windies' hopes of pulling off an unlikely win.

Livingstone put on 39 for the fifth wicket with Curran and was put down for a third time in the innings by Hetmyer. And by the time the Windies finally dismissed Livingstone in the penultimate over via the impressive Hosein, England needed just four runs to complete the chase.

The visitors clinched victory with four balls to spare as they progressed to 149 for seven, and they will go after a fourth straight T20 win when the teams meet in St Lucia from 4 pm on November 16.

Summarised Scores:

WEST INDIES – 145/8 from 20 overs (Rovman Powell 54, Romario Shepherd 30, Alzarri Joseph 21 not out; Saqib Mahmood 3/17, Jamie Overton 3/20) vs ENGLAND – 149/7 from 19.2 overs (Sam Curran 41, Liam Livingstone 39, Will Jacks 32; Akeal Hosein 4/22, Gudakesh Motie 1/27).