England won the T20 World Cup in 2010 and 2022, while the West Indies claimed it in 2012 and 2016. No team has won the tournament three times. But on Wednesday night, Jos Buttler’s men took a significant stride towards realising that dream by snapping West Indies’ unbeaten run in this tournament with an eight-wicket win, riding on an unbeaten 97-run stand between Phil Salt (87, 47b) and Jonny Bairstow (48,26b), in a Super 8 match at the Daren Sammy Stadium in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia.
England got off to a flying start in the 181-run chase. Despite an early stutter and a reprieve in the fourth over, courtesy of a miss by Nicholas Pooran behind the stumps, Salt quickly moved to 35 off 20 balls, taking England to 58 for no loss at the end of the PowerPlay. Meanwhile, Jos Buttler had progressed slowly to 25. He survived the left-arm spin of Akeal Hosein only to be dismissed lbw by off-spinner Roston Chase, playing an awkward shot.
At this point, both Bairstow and Moeen Ali were padded up, but due to the composition of the West Indies’ spin attack, Moeen was promoted up the order—the first time he was batting at No. 3 in a T20I since England toured Bangladesh in March 2023. This decision paid off when Moeen swept and reverse-swept left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie for a couple of fours in the ninth over.
AS IT HAPPENED - England vs West Indies
Moeen got a life when he was dropped on 10 by Pooran but managed to add only three more runs before being caught off the bowling of Andre Russell. Russell cleverly bowled a short delivery, knowing Moeen would target the shorter side of the field but against the wind, and the strategy worked.
Salt and Bairstow, at 4, kept the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos during a brief phase where boundaries were looking hard to come by. But Bairstow broke the shackles at last when he smacked three boundaries off Hosein’s last over to bring up the 50-run stand and turbocharge the run chase once again. What followed was utter carnage and effectively the final nail in the coffin for West Indies as Salt slammed Romario Shepherd for 30 runs with three fours and as many sixes.
After being put in to bat on the same pitch where the West Indies had scored 218 against Afghanistan, Brandon King and Johnson Charles gave the team a strong start, reaching 40 without loss in 4.2 overs. However, King injured himself playing a shot and had to limp off. Nicholas Pooran then joined Charles and maintained the momentum. While the England bowlers appeared tidy, they were not particularly threatening. Jofra Archer struggled in his first spell, conceding 21 runs in two overs while focusing on short deliveries. Amid the whistles of deafening horns and blasts of pop hits from the grass banks, one of the highlights of the first 10 overs was Pooran’s pickup shot for six off Mark Wood in the eighth over.
The introduction of spin in the ninth over saw West Indies well-positioned at 75 without loss. But leg-spinner Adil Rashid (1 for 21) and off-spinner Moeen Ali (1 for 15) bowled six overs between them—two each in tandem—to successfully slow the scoring rate. Along the way, Moeen also broke the 54-run second-wicket partnership, enticing Charles into attacking a wide full delivery, resulting in a catch at long-on.
A view of the Johnson Charles stand at the Darren Sammy Stadium during the England vs West Indian T20 World Cup match. | Photo Credit: Ayan Acharya
Rovman Powell’s performance in the 15th over was pivotal. Sensing West Indies’ desperate need to accelerate, Jos Buttler brought on part-time spinner Liam Livingstone, returning from a side strain. Powell seized the opportunity, smashing three huge sixes before a skewed edge was caught low by Mark Wood at short third. This onslaught cost England 20 runs and shifted some momentum back to the West Indies.
However, England quickly regained control with crucial wickets of Pooran and Andre Russell in the following overs. Pooran edged one to the keeper off Archer, who had adjusted to a full, outside-off-stump line in his second spell, while Russell was caught trying to hit a googly from Rashid, who has a favourable matchup against the Jamaican. The co-host had collapsed from 137 for 1 to 143 for 4 in just 12 balls.
If not for Sherfane Rutherford’s 15-ball 28, West Indies would’ve finished with far less. In fact, West Indies batters played 51 dot balls tonight, 15 more than their tally against Afghanistan. England takes on South Africa next here on Friday while West Indies will face the USA in Barbados the same day.
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