England 181 for 2 (Salt 87*, Bairstow 48*). West Indies 180 for 4 (Charles 38, Powell 36, Rashid 1-21) by eight wickets
With a clinical 97 between Salt and Bairstow, the defending champions made easy work of a target of 181 and cruised to victory with 15 balls to spare.
Rowman moved Powell up the ranks to No. 4. And while it didn’t produce immediate results, the home leaders paid off when Buttler decided to gamble with an over from Liam Livingstone in the 15th over.
Paul scored 20 in that over, hitting Livingstone for three sixes off four balls. But an effort off the fourth ball of Livingstone’s final ball brought about his downfall, caught at short three by Mark Wood, who returned to the XI in place of Chris Jordan.
Having reached 58 for no loss at the end of six overs, England’s chase got off to a smooth start. A flat delivery from Roston Chase eventually ended the opening stand on 67, before Moeen came and went, trapping Buttler in front, batting at number 3 for the first time since March 2023.
The first of those boundaries was Salt’s half-century off 38 balls, and he didn’t bend any remaining danger. The third over left West Indies with a half-chance to remove Salt for seven runs, when he hacked to Buran, who was unable to catch him.
More to follow…
„Całkowity introwertyk. Nieprzejednany specjalista od sieci. Przyjazny fanatyk bekonu. Student ekstremalnych. Miłośnik piwa. Organizator.”