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England aim for series victory as they return to St Lucia
England aim for series victory as they return to St Lucia
West Indies look for response after two losses against England in the T20I series.
It was a mix of highs and lows. England’s T20 World Cup defense didn’t go as planned in the Caribbean five months ago, but they did manage to reach the semi-finals, which was better than the host team’s outcome. West Indies entered the tournament with a lot of hope, yet couldn’t make it past the Super Eights, partly due to their last meeting with England at the Daren Sammy Stadium.
That match felt unusual: an explosive England win, powered by Phil Salt’s quick 87 off 47 balls, showing the dominant style that had marked their past World Cup successes. Since then, England has achieved two more convincing wins in Barbados – by eight wickets and seven wickets – putting them on the verge of only their second bilateral series win in two years.
Phil Salt has played a key role in England’s success against West Indies. His powerful century in the opening game was his third in five innings against them. Even when he got out for a golden duck in the next game, England’s captain Jos Buttler took charge, smashing 83 off 45 balls – a strong response to his own first-ball dismissal in game one.
West Indies' chances haven’t been helped by two unlucky toss losses – in the first match, even after setting a challenging target of 183, England chased it down comfortably with 19 balls left. They’ve also had setbacks with player availability: Alzarri Joseph faced a two-match suspension for a strange outburst in the ODI series, and Andre Russell injured his ankle in the first T20I.
While England seemed short on strategy during the ODI series, they’ve found a solid mix of consistency and confidence in the T20s. Their impressive line-up of allrounders has been better utilized in the 20-over format, especially in the first match, where losing Reece Topley to a knee injury barely affected Captain Jos Buttler’s options.
Even though their full batting depth hasn’t been tested yet, it’s a good sign that Sam Curran, Dan Mousley, and Jamie Overton haven’t had to step in early to rescue the team. England now has three games in St Lucia to clinch their first series win in the Caribbean since 2019, across any format. Given their current momentum, it would take a major setback to prevent them from achieving it.
West Indies: Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell (C), Sherfane Rutherford, Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Gudakesh Motie, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Matthew Forde
England: Phil Salt (wk), Jos Buttler (capt), Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, John Turner, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid
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