Andre Russell took three wickets and produced an unbeaten partnership with captain Rovman Powell to the lead the West Indies to a four-wicket victory over England in the series-opening T20 in Bridgetown.
Phil Salt (40) got England off to a flying start after sharing a 77-run partnership with Jos Buttler (39) inside the opening six overs, having lost the toss and being sent to bat first, only for the West Indies to hit back and bowl the visitors out for 171 within 19.3 overs.
Rehan Ahmed (3-39) took two wickets in successive balls to leave West Indies struggling at 123-6 in reply, following a short weather delay, with Adil Rashid (2-14) also impressing as he marked his 100th T20I appearance by becoming the first England men’s player to reach 100 T20I wickets.
Adil Rashid (centre) claimed the wickets of Kyle Mayers (35) and Shimron Hetmyer (1)
Powell and Russell (29no) then led the charge with an unbeaten 49-run seventh-wicket stand from just 21 balls, as the West Indies chased down their victory target with 11 balls to spare to move 1-0 up in the five-match series.
West Indies grab series opener
Salt smashed six boundaries and one six during his outing but was caught at deep midwicket by a brilliant juggling catch from Shimron Hetmyer, who also had skipper Buttler caught at cow corner, as England failed to build on a fast start that saw them 112-2 midway through their innings.
Will Jacks (17) fired two sixes in his quickfire innings before being removed by Alzarri Joseph (3-54), who conceded 25 runs from his first over – the most expensive of his career – but managed to finish on more respectable figures after mopping up the tail.
England’s Will Jacks, right, celebrates with captain Jos Buttler after hitting a six off Alzarri Joseph
Romario Shepherd (2-22) brought an end to Ben Duckett’s (14) cameo in the 14th over with a slower ball that was ramped to third and struck again in the 18th over to dismiss Sam Curran (13), but it was the terrific leaping catch from Joseph at long-off that invited the applause of the crowd at the Kensington Oval.
Brook (one) edged behind to Pooran whilst Liam Livingstone (27) chopped an off-cutter from Russell (3-19) on to his stumps, with Russell – playing in his first international since the 2021 T20 World Cup – striking again four balls later to have Ahmed (one) caught at long-off by Powell.
Andre Russell was awarded player of the match on his return to international cricket
Joseph then finished strongly by dismissing Rashid (0) in the final over, with Tymal Mills (0) then caught behind from the next ball to leave England all out for 171.
Brandon King (22) and Kyle Mayers (35) put on a steady 32-run partnership in reply before the former smashed a short ball at Duckett, who completed a tremendous leaping catch, as the West Indies amassed 78 runs inside the first six overs.
Ahmed (3-39) had Nicholas Pooran (13) out caught and bowled to move the game back towards England, with Rashid claiming his landmark wicket in the next over when he had Hetmyer (one) caught at mid-wicket by Duckett just before a 40-minute rain delay.
Ahmed had Shai Hope (36) caught at wide long-on and put to use the slip Butter offered him to dismiss Shepherd (0) for a golden duck, leaving the hosts still needing 49, before expensive overs from Livingstone and Mills saw the West Indies add 32 inside two overs and move momentum back in their favour.
Russell hit Rashid for a six and then four to bring the required runs down to four runs before carving Sam Curran (0-23) to the backward point boundary to complete a winning start to the series.
Buttler: ‘We want to keep pushing boundaries’
England’s captain Jos Buttler:
“It was always going to get harder, the pitch, with the way it played. I thought the West Indies adapted with the taking the pace off the ball but, from the position we were in, we were looking for a score of 200.
Jos Buttler scored 39 in England’s four-wicket loss
“We want to keep pushing the boundaries and try to be as positive as we can. But it’s about finding ways to keep scoring in that way.
“Today, as it got harder and harder, finding ways to minimise dot balls and pick off certain areas. Getting those extra 20, 25 runs in an unfashionable way aswell, so that’s something we can reflect on and do well.”
What’s next?
The five-match T20 international series now heads to Grenada for back-to-back matches on Thursday and Saturday, both starting at 5.30pm GMT. They then move to Trinidad and Tobago for the final two fixtures on December 19 and December 21, both 10pm starts. Stream Sky Sports with NOW
