England vs West Indies Only T20: Narine, Lewis flatten England

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Sunil Narine West Indies England cricket

Sunil Narine (far right) finished with figures of 2-15 off his four overs

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Sunil Narine took two wickets during a highly economical spell, while Evin Lewis smashed a 28-ball 51 to lead the West Indies to a 21-run over England in the one-off Twenty20 International in Durham.

England would have been looking for revenge going into the match as the last time these two nations met was in the final of the 2016 World Twenty20, where the West Indies came out on top after Carlos Brathwaite smashed Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes in the final over of the match.

Being put in to bat first, the West Indies got off to a scorching start as Lewis and Chris Gayle amassed a 77-run partnership before Gayle was run out by Jason Roy for a 21-ball 40.

Gayle made history during his innings as he became the first batsman in history to hit 100 sixes in Twenty20 Internationals.

Lewis went on to score 51 runs off 28 balls, which included six boundaries and three sixes, before he was caught by Joe Root at mid-off off the bowling of Liam Plunkett.

Evin Lewis West Indies England cricket

Evin Lewis scored his second fifty in Twenty20 Internationals

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Plunkett struck again four balls later as Marlon Samuels was dismissed for 10 runs. Once he was gone, the men from the Caribbean began to lose wickets at regular intervals.

However, Rovman Powell provided some late fireworks with his 19-ball 28 and it resulted in the West Indies finishing on 176/9 off their 20 overs.

Plunkett and Adil Rashid picked up three wickets apiece, while Chris Jordan and Tom Curran chipped in with one wicket each.

Chasing 177 to win, England lost Roy on the first ball of the innings as he was caught by Lewis at backward point off the bowling of Jerome Taylor.

Alex Hales and Root made up for the loss of Roy with a 64-run stand before Hales was clean bowled by West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite for 43, which came off 17 deliveries and included eight boundaries and a six.

Root and Morgan fell shortly after, but Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow stabilised the innings with a 50-run partnership.

With the duo bringing England back into contention, Kesrick Williams kickstarted the West Indies’ fightback as he removed Buttler, who made 30, and Rashid in the same over.

David Willey only made one run, while Bairstow ended up scoring 27 before he was sent packing by Brathwaite.

Chris Jordan became Williams’ third victim, while Liam Plunkett’s 18 went in vain as he was cleaned up by Brathwaite, which led to England being bowled out for 155.

Williams and Brathwaite took three wickets apiece, while Narine snapped up two, and Taylor and Ashley Nurse claimed one wicket each.

England captain Eoin Morgan was disappointed to have lost, and said: “Bowling at a pair like Lewis and Gayle was a huge opportunity to test ourselves and we didn’t bowl that well. But we were happy chasing what we did, losing three wickets when we did, then Jos and Jonny having to rebuild, I think that cost us. They have full power to push the button and take it on.

“[Form?] It’s always a concern, I don’t know when I’m in or out of form. I’m looking forward to the one-day series. [Poor bowling up front] We didn’t execute, just come out of playing Championship cricket; and the challenge of bowling to two very good players.”

Brathwaite was thrilled to have won the Twenty20 series, and said: “This was probably more challenging, the conditions were hard to deal with and I think the umpires were close to calling it off, but I was pleased with the boys. They asked if we wanted to trudge on, we said let’s give it a go and no more slip-ups happened.

“We had a good start and fell away but then the fight from the boys, finishing the game the way we did was fantastic. [Gayle and Lewis?] I played in the same CPL side, Evin has been striking it cleanly. They’re fantastic to watch, and helped us get off to a great start.”

Narine was named Man of the Match, and said: “Yeah, it’s good to come out and put on a performance. It was tough conditions but we handled ourselves well. It’s difficult with the wet ball and cold conditions, hopefully they continue in the one-day series. It’s about getting the right pace and using the variations.

“Good to see Gayle back and we have a lot of young players. It was a good score, maybe 15 runs short but we came back and bowled well. Performing for your country and being able to win is always the best.”

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