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WICKET! England 125-8 (Rehan ct and b Russell 0)Andre Russell is on a hat-trick! Rehan Ahmed smashed a low full toss back at Russell, who took a blinding return catch in his follow through.
WICKET! England 125-7 (Woakes b Russell 2)Goodnight. Andre Russell bowls Chris Woakes with an immaculate yorker from round the wicket, and I don’t know what else to say. It was a nigh-on perfect delivery.
18th over: England 125-6 (Curran 6, Woakes 2) Apparently dew could be a factor in the second innings, in which case Slim has left town. Just four singles from Oshane Thomas’s final over. Only Salt has scored freely in this innings, so the bowling allrounders were never likely to tee off from ball one.
“Coming late to the OBO following University Challenge, I reckon England are preparing to insure themselves by having two keepers opening,” writes John Starbuck. “If one of them comes off big, the other could take the gloves after having. his feet up for a while: a very cunning plan.
“Meanwhile, my last attempt to get the OBO fans have a treat with the Quicksilver Messenger Service’s version of ‘Mona’ which I’ve been playing a lot in this series.”
17th over: England 121-6 (Curran 4, Woakes 0) Motie ends a fine spell with figures of 4-0-24-3, and a fine series with an economy rate of just 7.37.
WICKET! England 121-6 (Livingstone ct and b Motie 28)Erm, about those 40 runs England need. The man most likely to get them, Liam Livingstone, has just checked a return catch to Gudakesh Motie. The ball stopped in the pitch, another sign of its awkwardness, and Livingstone is on his way for a useful 29-ball 28.
16th over: England 120-5 (Livingstone 28, Curran 3) Livingstone picks Holder up over square leg for his second six, a seemingly effortless blow. The rest of the over is a bit of a struggle for both batsmen, with a number of false strokes. On this pitch England’s score isn’t as modest as it looks, but they will want at least 40 off the last four overs.
15th over: England 111-5 (Livingstone 21, Curran 1) Hosein ends an excellent spell with figures of 4-0-20-2. He’s had a strong series overall, with an outstanding economy rate of 7.8.
WICKET! England 110-5 (Moeen c Powell b Hosein 23)A useful, if chancy, innings from Moeen Ali comes to an end. He charged Hosein, who saw him coming and pushed the ball shorter and wider. Moeen smeared it towards long-on, where Russell and Powell completed a relay catch. Russell’s throw almost fell short of Powell, who had to dive forward to clasp the ball with both hands.
14th over: England 109-4 (Livingstone 20, Moeen 23) Moeen tries to pull Russell and somehow edges the ball to the left of Pooran for four. Every little helps. Moeen then misses a slower bouncer and top-edges another pull that lands safely. A terrific over from Russell – seven from it, but five came from false strokes.
“Gary Naylor’s comment about Salt looking like Maxwell is something I’d been thinking about,” writes Tom Van der Gucht. “Salt seems to have one of those faces that make him look like lots of famous people from different angles. From some perspectives he looks like Ian Bell on steroids, from others he has a ring of the actor Jamie Dornan and sometimes he gives off definite Matt Prior vibes.”
That’s a perceptive point. There are also quite a few pictures in which he resembles our deputy digital editor Gregg Bakowski.
13th over: England 102-4 (Livingstone 18, Moeen 18) Moeen joins Club Maximum, hoicking Motie miles over midwicket. That’s England’s fourth six of the match and their 55th of the series. The usual ones and twos make it another excellent over for England.
12th over: England 90-4 (Livingstone 16, Moeen 8) It’s fair to say Liam Livingstone enjoys pace on the ball. When Oshane Thomas returns to the attack, Livingstone launches a typical fast-handed six over midwicket.
Moeen has a stroke of luck when a top-edged pull lands safely, but that’s a much better over for England – ten from it.
11th over: England 80-4 (Livingstone 8, Moeen 6) Livingstone, who is taking a bit of time to get used to the pitch, takes a couple of singles off Hosein to move to eight from 13 balls. England have scored only 11 runs from the last three overs.
10th over: England 77-4 (Livingstone 6, Moeen 5) Another boundaryless over, this time from Jason Holder. England are starting to lose their way, though I must stress that the pitch looks pretty awkward. Drinks.
9th over: England 73-4 (Livingstone 5, Moeen 2) Terrific stuff from Motie – just three runs and the wicket. England’s spinners will fancy bowling on this, but only if they have something to defend.
WICKET! England 70-4 (Brook c Pooran b Motie 7)Two wickets in four balls for Gudakesh Motie! Brook tried to lap a ball that bounced to hit the glove and loop into the hands of Nicholas Pooran behind the stumps. This pitch is offering plenty to the spinners.
Harry Brook (left) of England looks up as he is dismssed caught by Nicholas Pooran off Gudakesh Motie of the West Indies. Photograph: Randy Brooks/AFP/Getty Images8th over: England 70-3 (Livingstone 4, Brook 7) Brook is beaten by a grubber from Russell, then throws his head back in surprise when the next ball kicks from a length. This certainly isn’t another 267 pitch. It might not be a 167 pitch.
A low full toss from Russell allows Brook to free his mind of uneven bounce and calmly wave his first boundary back down the ground.
7th over: England 61-3 (Livingstone 1, Brook 1) “It’s just struck me that, under the lid, “Phil Salt looks a bit like Glenn Maxwell under the lid,” says Gary Naylor. “Bats a bit like him too.”
His numbers for this series are bonkers: 331 runs at 83 with a strike-rate of 186.
WICKET! England 60-3 (Salt b Motie 38)A huge wicket for West Indies! For the second time in three overs, an England batter is dismissed the ball after hitting a six. Salt had launched Gudakesh Motie over wide mid-off for his first six of the match and his 22nd of the series. Motie’s response was a beautiful delivery that curved onto middle stump and straightened dramatically to beat Salt’s defensive push. That is a jaffa.
6th over: England 50-2 (Salt 31, Livingstone 1) Salt takes Thomas for successive boundaries, through backward point and then straight down the ground. In doing so, he breaks Mohammad Rizwan’s record for the most runs in a bilateral T20 series. Rizwan made 316 against England last year; Salt has 324 and counting.
”If Phil Salt keeps batting like this,” says Brian Withington, “I might just about be persuaded that he is worth his place in spite of the truly awful wicketkeeping. Is he stepping in just to make us grateful for the return of Jos ‘Tin Gloves’ Buttler?!”
5th over: England 39-2 (Salt 21, Livingstone 0) That was the last ball of the over. Jacks has had a frustrating series. A strike-rate of 146 is excellent; the problem is that his average is one decimal point away: 73 runs at 14.60.
WICKET! England 39-2 (Jacks b Hosein 7)Brilliant bowling from Akeal Hosein! The ball after being slugged down the ground for six by Will Jacks, Hosein skidded a quicker ball through to hit the stumps as Jacks shaped to cut. Shane Warne would have been proud of that.
4th over: England 32-1 (Salt 20, Jacks 1) Buttler ends a decent series with 161 runs at an average of 32, and with a strike-rate of 144. Meanwhile Salt, the leading runscorer on either side by a mile, gets four more with a deft steer to third man. As Ian Bishop notes on TNT Sports, West Indies are bowling very straight and so far England have struggled to time the ball.
WICKET! England 24-1 (Buttler c b Holder 11)A strength can also be a weakness, part 437241. Jos Buttler premeditates a ramp off Jason Holder’s second ball but scoops it straight to short fine leg, where Oshane Thomas takes a simple catch.
3rd over: England 24-0 (Salt 13, Buttler 11) The left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, who has opened the bowling throughout the series, comes on first change tonight. Salt makes room to crack another boundary through the covers. Rutherford hurt himself while diving to try to stop the ball; for a second I thought he’d dislocated a finger but he seems to be okay.
Salt takes a very tight single to Holder at mid-off – it would have been very close with a direct hit – and then Buttler mistimes a big shot that plops short of long-on. The early signs are that this pitch isn’t quite as conducive to batting thuggery as it was on Tuesday.
2nd over: England 16-0 (Salt 7, Buttler 9) Oshane Thomas, playing his first T20I in two years, starts with a wide half-volley that is laced through extra cover for four by Salt. His line is much tighter thereafter, but when he drops short Buttler heaves a pull through midwicket for four more. No sixes, yet.
1st over: England 5-0 (Salt 1, Buttler 4) Russell hasn’t opened the bowling in a T20 international since 2018. His third ball is a wretched half-tracker that Buttler pulls past short fine leg for four, but that aside it’s a decent over.
The players are on the field and Andre Russell is going to open the bowling. Let us flay.
Phil Salt of England walks out to bat. Photograph: Ashley Allen/Getty ImagesThe match starts in precisely 20 minutes. Here’s something to read while I watch Luke Littler grab a coffee
Team newsEngland are unchanged. West Indies bring in Johnson Charles and Oshane Thomas for Kyle Mayers and Matthew Forde, which means a return to the King Charles opening partnership. Shame they don’t have a player with the surname Ralph.
West Indies King, Charles, Hope, Pooran, Rutherford, Powell, Motie, Russell, Holder, Hosein, Thomas.
England Salt (wk), Buttler (c), Jacks, Livingstone, Brook, Ali, Curran, Woakes, Ahmed, Rashid, Topley.
West Indies win the toss and bowlJos Buttler says he would have done the same, though batting first wasn’t a problem for England on Tuesday night.
PreambleAll good orgies must come to an end. The T20 series between West Indies and England has been a bacchanalia of six-hitting: 108 in four games, obliterating the record for a bilateral series. Expect at least another 25 in tonight’s decider in Tarouba. And then, just like that, the series – and one of the more eventful years in English cricket history – will be over.
England’s comeback from 2-0 down has been built on two spectacular centuries from Phil Salt. No longer is he living up to his initials by being an afterthought in England’s white-ball sides. Salt has been the biggest triumph of this series, making what Matthew Mott called an “undeniable case” for inclusion in the team at next year’s World Cup. Adil Rashid has been majestic, even by his standards, and is top of the T20 rankings for the first time in his career, while Rehan Ahmed, Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran are among those who have done their World Cup chances more harm than good.
This series is ultimately about finessing England’s team for when they return in June, so a defeat wouldn’t be the end of the world. But a comeback win would make a statement that, after a traumatic year, England’s white-ball team are back to their old ways: knocking the opposition for six.