England’s woes continued even after the conclusion of their humbling Ashes defeat, as they were trounced by the Windies in the first T20I at the Kensington Oval, after a Jason Holder masterclass with the ball. The Caribbean Kings produced a spectacular bowling performance to restrict the English to a measly total of 103, which many would consider a decent total after they were reduced to 49/7. The West Indian batsmen had absolutely no troubles chasing that total down as they registered a huge 9-wicket victory.
West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and made the right decision of putting the English into bat. Jason Roy did strike a six against Sheldon Cottrell in the first over, but was knocked over by the pacer, as he produced some movement in the air, making a mess of the woodwork.
Some beautiful Test match line bowling from the experienced Jason Holder got rid of Tom Banton, and subsequently Moeen Ali, as England were reduced to 10/3, an all-too-familiar position for the Three Lions of late.
James Vince appeared to be in decent form, as he took Sheldon Cottrell for 14 runs before irresponsibly throwing his wicket away off the last ball of the over.
Things only went downhill for the Englishmen beyond that point, as captain Eoin Morgan struggled to put bat on ball, struggling at two runs off 14 balls at one stage. His struggle at the crease continued for a while as Billings and Liam Dawson were dismissed in the meantime.
Morgan’s dismissal following a six after the water break reduced the English to 49/7, before Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid played short cameos as England huffed and puffed past the three-figure mark. All-rounder Jason Holder finished with magnificent figures of 4/7 as the Windies concluded a thorough rout of the English batting line-up.
Having set a paltry target of 104, the Windies openers opted for an unhurried approach, knocking the ball around as they comfortably inched towards the target. After going wicketless for nine overs, the English got their first breakthrough as Adil Rashid’s brilliance meant that opener Shai Hope was drawn outside the crease, allowing keeper Sam Billings to whip off the bails.
However, the West Indians continued as if nothing had happened, with Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King, who made a fine half-century, knocked off the remaining runs with little difficulty, sealing a massive victory for the WI.
