Sports
ENGLAND WON AGAINST THE WEST INDIES AT BRISTOL
by David Harris
England defeated the West Indies by four wickets in the second T20I at Bristol on Sunday to win the three-match series.
Chasing 197 runs for victory England scored 199 for six wickets; they started shaky losing the wicket of opener Jamie Smith who was caught at mid-off by Gudakesh Motie of Jason Holder in the third over.
Jos Buttler (47) and Ben Duckett (30) added 63 runs for the second to repair the damage, Duckett faced 18 balls and struck four fours and a six before he was dismissed in the eighth over.
At the end of ten overs England had scored 87 for two wickets, Buttler; the former captain top-scored and Harry Brook the current skipper took the score to 112 before Buttler was caught in the deep off left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein.
At that stage the score was 112 for three wickets in the 13th over, the West Indies were in the game in the next over when Brook was dismissed for 34. With England requiring 71 runs off 39 balls, Tom Banton (30) and Jacob Bethell (26) pummelled the bowlers for 43 runs off a mere 15 balls to win the match and the series. Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph took two wickets for 45 runs.
Earlier the West Indies scored 197 for six wickets after being sent in to bat, they endured a nightmare when opener Evin Lewis was trapped lbw by fast bowler Luke Wood off the first ball of the innings.
Captain Shai Hope (49) and opener Johnson Charles (47) stabilized the innings with a second wicket partnership of 90 runs. While aggressive batting by Roman Powell (37), Jason Holder (29) and Romario Shepherd (19) took the West Indies to what appeared to be a formidable total. Wood was the most successful bowler with two wickets for 25 runs.
The West Indies must win the third T201 at Southampton on Tuesday to avoid being whitewashed in the series.
