Five things we learnt from England vs West Indies
Saturday evening’s T20 international between England and the West Indies saw a repeat of last year’s World T20 final, won so dramatically by Carlos Brathwaite in the final over.
Last night saw the West Indies triumph once again – this time more comfortably – as England lost wickets at regular intervals as they looked to chase 177 on a cold night in Durham. Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis provided the platform for the visitors with a blistering attack on England's bowlers.
Although Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid bowled well in the middle overs to peg Brathwaite’s side back, England never quite recovered from losing Alex Hales for a rapid-fire 43. They continued to lose wickets, eventually being bowled out 21 runs short of their target.
Below, the Sports Gazette discusses the five things we learnt from the game.
Cricket is still a summer sport
If mid-September is the answer, the question is almost certainly not cricket-related. Ever since the schedule for the 2017 international summer was revealed, it had the look of a list drawn up by the cruellest of sadists. The West Indian players, many of whom arrived just four days before the game, could have been forgiven for asking quite where they had landed. Durham evenings are brisk enough at the height of summer, let alone during the short days of September. That the rain briefly came down in spades was just about the least surprising aspect of the entire night, with the West Indian fielders slipping and sliding like some kind of inadvertent Bambi tribute act.
Ben Stokes’ absence was bizarre on multiple levels
Looking beyond the ECB’s attempt to increase the game’s popularity among young people by staging a flagship T20 fixture in the height of frostbite season, the cricketing authorities did little to help Durham make a success of their sole international fixture of the summer. Having already relegated, fined and docked points from the county for their off-field financial struggles in the last year, resting local hero Ben Stokes for his one game on home territory seemed a crass move. The world’s most expensive non-Indian IPL player denied the chance to rectify the trauma of his World T20 final over. Chuck in the subplots of his ongoing ‘relationship’ with Marlon Samuels and nemesis Carlos Brathwaite’s new role as captain and the absurdity of his nonappearance only increases.
Chris Gayle remains box-office
Gayle’s 21-ball knock was everything that you’d expect from the world’s premier T20 specialist. 36 of his runs came in seven deliveries, while his first maximum of the evening was his hundredth in T20 internationals. Even his dismissal was pure Gayle, turning a fairly comfortable single into a calamity by languidly strolling every step and refusing to dirty his pads with a desperate dive – the carelessness of his dismissal matching the brutality of the assault that preceded it.
Adil Rashid is England’s best white-ball spin option
Dropped for a relative novice in Mason Crane for the previous T20 series against South Africa, Rashid’s performance showed a toughness so often doubted during the Yorkshireman’s fledgling international career. Bowling wrist-spin is a tough art at the best of times. Bowling it with a wet ball in freezing conditions against a side with the mother of all launchpads is nigh-on impossible. He was comfortably the most economical of England’s specialist bowlers, with his variations crucial to the West Indian lower order failing to fire.
Jason Roy needs a score
Playing ahead of Dawid Malan, who made 78 in his only T20 appearance for England to date, Roy needed a score after a poor summer. Well, the morning after the night before and the Surrey man still needs a score. Once again, Roy was guilty of attempting something violent too early in his innings – the first ball he faced, in fact. Of course, the nature of T20 cricket does not allow an easing-in process. Yet, for a man of Roy’s shot-making ability, his early freneticism is digging himself into a large hole. The upcoming one-day series is huge for him.
