Moeen Ali (2/17) and Adil Rashid (4/2) T20I career-best figures bundled West Indies out for 55 runs.
West Indies 55 all-out in 14.2 overs (Chris Gayle 13; Adil Rashid 4/2, Tymal Mills 3/9) lose to England 56/4 in 8.2 overs (Jos Buttler 24*; Akeal Hosein 2/24) by 6 wickets
The second match of the opening day of ICC T20 World Cup 2021 Super-12 stage saw a clash between last-edition runners up England and title-holders West Indies. Both sides share the history of the memorable finale of the 2016 World Cup when Carlos Braithwaite’s heroics helped West Indies lift their second title.
However, this time around with some new faces in both sides, the hype remained constant. Playing at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and opted to bowl first considering the dew factor during the second innings.
Fans witness to dampener as West Indies off to disappointing start
West Indies got off to an abysmal start to their innings, after having lost both the openers Evin Lewis (6) and Lendl Simmons (3) within three overs. England were already making an impression in the game, all due credits to Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali who shared a wicket apiece.
Then came the Universe Boss Chris Gayle and the in-form Shimron Hetmyer on the crease. Moeen Ali, however, continued to cause damage to West Indies, this time by clearing Hetmyer for 9 runs in the 5th over.
Chris Gayle, with an excellent record against England, averaging 34.08 from 13 innings and a strike rate of 157.31, also departed for just 13 runs off Tymal Mill’s delivery. West Indies also lost the wicket of DJ Bravo in 7.2 overs with half of the team back to the pavilion on 37/5 shortly after the batting powerplay.
Adil Rashid bowled one of the most economical spells in T20Is
Adil Rashid bowled one of the most miserly spells in T20I cricket and also his career-best with 4/2 in 2.2 overs. He banked on the momentum built by Woakes (1/12) and Moeen Ali (2/17) and continued to wreak havoc on the West Indies side.
Starting off by removing Andre Russell off a straight delivery for a two-ball duck, he followed it up with yet another wicket, this time of the West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard who eventually surrendered at the starting of 11th over.
Tymal Mills (2/17), who returned to the England side after four-and-a-half years, chipped in with two wickets on his comeback.
West Indies were bundled out for just 55 runs in 14.2 overs in what became the third-lowest total in the history of the T20 World Cup. They also registered their second-lowest total in T20Is, the lowest being 45 against the same side in 2019.
England off to a sedate start
Chasing one of the lowest totals of 56 runs in T20Is set by West Indies, England got off to a decent start until they lost their first wicket on the first ball of the 4th over.
Ravi Rampaul struck for West Indies trapping Jason Roy at short mid-wicket for 11 runs. England lost yet another wicket after exactly a gap of one over as this time the 28-year-old Akeal Hosein caught Jonny Bairstow off his own bowling for just 9 runs. The third wicket for England came in shortly in just the next over when Moeen Ali ran himself out, owing to lack of coordination with Jos Buttler.
Akeal Hosein, however, struck again with yet another wicket by inflicting another caught & bowled and removed the in-form Liam Livingstone (1). England were reeling at 39/4 after 6.1 overs with just 17 runs required to clinch their first win. Akeal took 2/24 in his spell as the most successful bowler for his side.
England eventually sealed the game by 6 wickets with Jos Buttler hitting the winning runs with a boundary and taking his side home in their first Super 12 game of the tournament.
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ENG vs WI – Player of the Match
Moeen Ali became the player of the match following his opening spell of 2/17 which wreaked havoc for the West Indies. He followed it up with a catch of Evin Lewis. He pulled off this spectacular catch running from mid-off towards the boundary.
Before this game, West Indies boasted off 11 wins in 18 head-to-head clashes against England. The record also weighed for West Indies in the T20 World Cup with the Caribbean side winning all 5 games against England. However, the tables turned on Saturday as Eoin Morgan and his men broke through the jinx and opened their account with a win in their first game of the tournament.
ENG vs WI – Stats & Facts
- Lowest T20I totals for WI 45 vs Eng, Basseterre 2019 55 vs Eng, Dubai 2021 60 vs Pak, Karachi 2018 71 vs Eng, Basseterre 2019
(Three of them have come against England)
- England finally broke their winless streak against West Indies in the T20 World Cup tournament history. H2H record now stands at 1-5 in six T20 WC clashes between England and West Indies.
- England and West Indies have had the highest boundary percentages in T20I cricket since July 2019.
- Before this encounter, England batters were the leading four-hitters while West Indies led the way in sixes, hitting one every 11.1 balls. The global average is a six every 19.6 deliveries.
- England have now won four of the five matches against West Indies since the 2016 World T20.
- Adil Rashid now has the best bowling average in a T20 World Cup match with a 4-wicket haul which is 0.5.
- Rashid also registered the best bowling figures for an England bowler in the T20 World Cup tournament. He bettered the record previously held by Chris Jordan (4/28) vs Sri Lanka in the 2016 edition of the tournament.
Bangladesh play Sri Lanka in the 3rd Super 12 game on October 24 which will be played at the Sharjah Cricket Ground from 15:30 hours IST. This will be followed by the Group 2 clash between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium which will kick off at 19:30 hours IST.
Here are some the top twitter reactions from ENGvWI game:
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