The first ball of the Super 12 match between England and West Indies in the ICC T20 World Cup was bowled on Saturday, sparking excitement with the Caribbean players’ epoch-making victory five-and-a-half years ago. distant memory.
Batting first, West Indies’ second lowest T20I score was reduced to 55 runs. England stumbled in their reaction, losing four wickets before returning home in 8.2 overs. Akil Hossein’s athletic one-arm stunner from his own bowling to dismiss Liam Livingstone was the silver lining for Kieron Pollard’s men.
Earlier, West Indies got an initial blow when Chris Woakes deceived Evin Lewis with a slow delivery in the second over and Moeen Ali ran back from mid-off to take a catch on his shoulder. In the next, Moeen dismisses Lendl Simmons, who hits it straight over deep midwicket. With two left-handers Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer at the crease, Moeen, who opened the bowling, got the third over in the powerplay. The move paid off as Hetmyer flat-batted Eoin Morgan at mid-on.
Gayle opened his innings aggressively, taking Woakes out of covers and a run out to Jason Roy. But he could not maintain the intensity and fell to Tymal Mills on the delivery of David Malan, who ran past midwicket and held the ball.
Gayle’s dismissal also booked the powerplay, during which England took four wickets and went for more than five in an over. Moeen bowled four consecutive overs, taking two wickets for 17 runs including 18 dot balls.
With England growing rapidly, West Indies sent Dwayne Bravo down to No. But he was dismissed for a run-a-ball five as Pollard’s men lost half the side for less than 50. Mills, returning to international cricket after four years, was what was caught behind by Nicholas Pooran – his second scalp.
Andre Russell was dismissed for a duck by Adil Rashid. The leggie then dismissed Pollard and Obed McCoy in successive deliveries and finished with remarkable figures of 2.2-0-2-4 in his next over, shattering Ravi Rampaul’s stumps.
When West Indies crossed 50 in the 13th over, there was an ironic cheer from the crowd. It was that kind of night for the defending champions.
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