England vs West Indies 1st ODI: Bairstow’s maiden century helps England cruise to victory

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Jonny Bairstow hundred England West Indies cricket

Jonny Bairstow celebrates after bringing up his maiden ODI century

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Jonny Bairstow struck an unbeaten 100 as England waltzed their way to a seven-wicket win over the West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester.

With the West Indies losing the match, it was the final nail in the coffin in regards to their hopes of automatically qualifying for the 2019 World Cup.

The men from the Caribbean are currently ranked ninth and since they cannot move up a spot, which would have guaranteed them a place in the 2019 World Cup, they will now have to go through a qualification tournament.

The West Indies opted to bat first after a wet outfield delayed the start of the match and reduced the game to 42 overs per side.

Chris Gayle, who was playing in his first ODI since the 2015 World Cup, and Evin Lewis got to tourists off to a brisk start, but after amassing 45 runs, Moeen Ali removed Lewis for 11.

Gayle went on to make a 27-ball 37 before he was caught by Joe Root off the bowling of Chris Woakes.

Shai Hope and Marlon Samuels stabilised the innings with a 50-run stand before Hope was caught by Bairstow at deep midwicket off the bowling of Ben Stokes for 35.

Stokes struck again in his next over as he had Samuels caught behind for 17.

Jason Mohammed and Rovman Powell looked to be leading the West Indies’ recovery, but they ended up falling for 18 and 23 respectively.

The West Indies continued to lose wickets in a hurry, but captain Jason Holder smashed an unbeaten 41, which came off 33 balls and included five boundaries, to help his side finish on 204/9 off their 42 overs.

Stokes was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Woakes and Adil Rashid snapped up two wickets apiece. Moeen and David Willey, meanwhile, chipped in with one wicket each.

Chasing 205 to win, England lost opener Alex Hales in the fifth over as he was caught by Lewis at backward point off the bowling of Jerome Taylor for 19.

Bairstow and Root made up for the loss of Hales with a 125-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries.

Joe Root half-century England West Indies cricket

Joe Root scored his 23rd ODI fifty

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

However, Root was unable to make the most of it as he was clean bowled by Kesrick Williams for 54, which came off 53 balls and included four boundaries.

Even though captain Eoin Morgan was caught behind for 10 runs shortly after, Bairstow and Stokes finished things off with an unbeaten 35-run partnership.

Bairstow ended up making a career-best 100, which came off 97 balls and included 11 boundaries, while Stokes remained undefeated on 23 off 10 deliveries, which included a boundary and two sixes.

Williams was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Taylor claimed one.

Holder was disappointed to have lost, and said: “We were probably 30-40 runs, but we didn’t bowl as well as we should. We leaked boundaries. We needed to rotate the strike, it’s been an area of concern for a while. We lost wickets at crucial stages, and that doesn’t help with momentum. But with runs on the board we should have given a better account of ourselves.”

Morgan was pleased to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “We adapted well to the conditions, we executed exceptionally well to give us a relatively easy target. Adil, he bowled exceptionally well today, the unit as a whole put in a good benchmark for the series. Being there at the end epitomises how hungry he [Bairstow] is to be a part of the eleven.”

Bairstow was named Man of the Match, and said: “I said to Stokesy halfway down, not again. It seems a long time ago I made my debut in one-day cricket, but with the strength in depth of the England side, opportunities are so few and far between. It’s why we’ve gone on to make scores of 400.”

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