West Indies beat England at the T20 World Cup

Brilliant bowling by West Indies spin bowlers helped force a confidence-boosting victory over group favourites England at the T20 World Cup in India. The game at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium was both sides’ second game at the tournament and each were looking to follow up opening match wins and stamp their authority on the group. 

Shimron Hetmyer was one of the stars of when the Windies saw off Scotland on the tournament’s opening day. Indeed his 22-ball knock was the fastest ever by a West Indies player at the T20 World Cup, breaking Chris Gayle’s previous record from 23 balls against Australia in 2009. 

Equally impressive was Romario Shepherd’s five-wicket haul, which contained a hat-trick and four wickets in one over. England on the other hand were far from convincing in their win against Nepal, crawling over the line in a far from convincing performance.

England won the toss and put the West Indies in, believing that batting could be easier later in the day. When both openers Hope and King were back in the dressing room within 7 deliveries it looked ominous, and at 77-4 at the half way stage it looked like the Windies were going to fall a way short of a par score.

Sherfane Rutherford and Rovman Powell helped the score beyond 100 before Adil Rashid removed Powell as part of an excellent spell which saw him end with figures of 2-16. Rutherford however remained and struck some mighty blows as he passed fifty and was not out 76 as a total of 196-6 was reached, aided by a quick-fire 33 of 17 balls from Jason Holder. The innings included 13 sixes, with 7 hit by Rutherford alone.

In reply, England looked like getting off to a flyer when Phil Salt took 24 of the second over bowled by Holder, but he was well caught by Rutherford in the next over to stop the assault. Nevertheless, at 67-1 at the end of the power play, England looked to be on course. 

It was the introduction of the spinners which completely altered the momentum of the game. Roston Chase and Gudakesh Motie both bowled superbly and took wickets at regular intervals. When Motie got skipper Harry Brook out playing at one too early, England needed 66 of final 6 overs. Motie ended with 3-33 and Chase 2-29 as the Windies put the squeeze on.

Two excellent run-outs assisted the West Indian cause and victory was theirs when Rashid was well caught on the boundary by Chase, off Shamar Joseph. The winning margin was 30 runs, with six balls to spare.

Player of the match said: “I think one of the biggest challenges was Adil Rashid so it was important to keep him out of the game and we backed ourselves, rotating the strike. For me personally I have put in a lot of work coming into the World Cup and I can score runs when I play with a clear mind.

“We were maybe 10 runs behind what we wanted given England’s powerful batting. but the guys bowled well. In these big stages you want to make sure you have the momentum and hopefully other guys can put their hands up next time.”