Recent Match Report – West Indies vs England 5th T20I 2023،
West Indies 133 for 6 (Hope 43*, Rutherford 30) beaten England 132 (Salt 38, Motie 3-24) by four wickets
The final match of the England tour ended much like the first: with Shai Hope clinching victory for the West Indies with a match-winning six. His unbeaten run-a-ball 43 was the highest score by a tense low scorer in Tarouba, and his crisp strike to Chris Woakes' cover sealed the series decision with four balls remaining.
Something is brewing in the Caribbean. Since their ignominious elimination in the first round of last year's T20 World Cup in Australia, West Indies have won three out of three T20I series under the captaincy of Rovman Powell. In August, they beat India 3–2 in Daren Sammy's first T20I series as white-ball coach; in December, they beat the reigning world champions by the same margin.
This final was played on the same ground at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad as that used in England's 75-run victory 48 hours before, but the matches could hardly have been more different: after 459 runs in 35.3 overs on Tuesday night, Thursday's match saw just 265 in 38.5, culminating in a tussle for the finish line.
Chasing 133, Hope absorbed 31 balls for his first 23 runs before finally moving up a gear when he dismissed Rehan Ahmed for his first boundary. West Indies made things difficult for themselves, but England's late collapse after being sent down – they lost their last six wickets for just 22 runs – proved decisive. They will return home empty-handed on Friday, having lost the ODI and T20I legs of this tour.
A pinch of salt
Phil Salt hit centuries in the third and fourth matches of this series and looked impeccable in the Powerplay. Oshane Thomas, who replaced Matthew Forde for the West Indies, saw his first ball of the evening go through the covers, then conceded consecutive boundaries in his second over: the first at point, the second straight down the ground.
Jos Buttler fell early, bringing Jason Holder to short fine leg for 11 in the fourth over, while Will Jacks' innings summed up his series: a glimmer of promise, bowling Akeal Hosein over long on for a consecutive six, then brought back to the ground. down as he was cramped by an arm ball that rushed into his stumps.
By the time Salt bowled Gudakesh Motie for six to take England to 60 for 2 after three balls of the seventh over, he had broken Mohammad Rizwan's record for the most runs in a bilateral men's T20I series. But he fell to the next one he faced, which bowed and then overshot his outside edge – a sign of what was to come through the middle overs.
Spin-off stifles England
Buttler lamented how long it took England to realize it wasn't the same as two nights before which had allowed Motie and Hosein to thrive. Harry Brook fell on his sixth ball, gloving Motie behind as he prepared to scoop; it was only once again, when Moeen Ali dragged one through mid-wicket, that he conceded a boundary.
Moeen fell for 23 thanks to some excellent batting between Andre Russell and Powell at long-on and long-off, after adding 40 in 6.2 overs for the fifth wicket. Liam Livingstone hit two imposing sixes down the leg side – one off Thomas, the other off Holder – but dismissed Motie to give him his third wicket.
England's lower order offered little resistance: Russell cleaned up Chris Woakes with a perfect yorker, then reacted quickly to take a fine catch off his own bowling when Rehan returned a full toss to him. Adil Rashid ran out while putting Curran back on strike, but Curran could only pick long. From 267 for 3, England were bowled out for just 132.
Hope drops anchor
Johnson Charles, replacing Kyle Mayers at the top of the order, made an early dent in the target, swinging Woakes over square leg for six before clearing him to point. But England's bowlers picked up the first wickets they craved: Brandon King bowled Reece Topley straight to mid-on, and Nicholas Pooran clipped Woakes on his own stumps.
England attempted to replicate West Indies' spin squeeze, and Rashid – celebrating his rise to the top of the ICC rankings in this format – struck in his first over. The breakthrough came courtesy of the worst ball he bowled, a looping full toss outside off stump that Charles slapped straight to cover.
Sherfane Rutherford provided a vital cameo 30 off 21 balls, hitting Rashid down the ground for six and pulling Curran to long leg, while Hope steadied the ship at the other end. They added 41 from 38 balls for the fourth wicket before Rutherford flicked Rashid's googly to Curran at short extra cover, opening the game.
As the game progressed, the chase became frenzied. Powell dropped Rehan to the ground for six to take the required rate below six, but then headed Topley to short third, and Russell swung like a rusty door before delivering Curran's full toss down the throat at long then that the West Indies managed a point from the first five. balls of the 19th completed.
Holder was almost run out on the last ball of the over, but Curran's close range attempt to deflect Rashid's throw onto the stumps went wide. When Holder's inside edge off Woakes' first ball of the 20th left six needed from five balls, Hope decided to finish it with one shot: he smashed Woakes over the offside, provoking celebrations which would continue long into the night.
