Evin Lewis and Shai Hope helped West Indies record their most successful T20 chase in the Caribbean as England’s hopes of a clean sweep of the series were dashed in a heavy-scoring affair.
Leading 3-0 in the five-match series, England accumulated an impressive 218 for five with Phil Salt’s 55 off 35 balls and Jacob Bethell’s unbeaten 62 deliveries leading and trailing the innings in St Lucia.
But the Windies sealed a five-wicket victory largely thanks to an astonishing 136-run stand in nine overs between Lewis and Hope – even though both openers and Nicholas Pooran departed in the space of three balls.
They endured some nervy moments after Lewis’ 68 from 31 balls and Hope’s 54 from 24 deliveries as England applied some pressure, but Sherfane Rutherford (29 not out from 17) hit consecutive sixes off Dan Mousley to get his side. on the line with an over in reserve.
With England already having a series victory, the first of the two dead rubbers had a sense of end of term, but a sparse crowd was treated to an exhibition of big shots with 16 sixes each.
The Windies eclipsed their previous record of 191 in a T20 at home against India in Jamaica seven years ago and did so by extending the trend to seven matches on this tour of the team winning the toss, wins the match.
Any relief the Windies had in following properly for the first time in this series when the coin fell was offset by a loose opener as Salt and Will Jacks shifted into high gear, each clearing the rope in the first over by Akeal Hosein.
Salt has traditionally struggled against left-arm spin and in this series his strike rate against the wily pair of Hosein and Gudakesh Motie has been 123, compared to 200 against all other types of bowlers.
He turned a weakness into a strength here, bludgeoning 33 runs in 14 balls off the duo, only to fall to Roston Chase’s off-spin, swinging wildly but only glancing down the leg side towards Pooran.
A few fallows followed, but Jos Buttler reignited the charge with towering sixes off Chase and Motie, who enjoyed his only success when the England captain took a reverse sweep at third over.
Bethell showed his range by settling in with a couple of well-timed fours before demonstrating his power with two pulls and a drive for three successive sixes against Chase to bring up a 22-ball fifty.
Sam Curran cleared the ropes of Alzarri Joseph and Obed McCoy as he and Bethell added 63 in the last five overs to lift England to their highest T20 total at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium.
When John Turner’s first T20 for England was scored for five – including four via an edge off Lewis – and Saqib Mahmood circled Hope, sending down a maiden, the Windies already looked like they were facing it.
But Turner was exposed to the harsh reality of T20 cricket after falling for 25 in his second over, hit for four-four-six-four by Hope, who upped the ante from zero off six balls, taking 41 off his next 13 to support an undefeated power play total of 69.
Lewis was initially happy to play second fiddle, but exploded upon Livingstone’s introduction, clubbing three huge sixes, including one from 105 yards, in an eighth over which resulted in 30.
The absence of rested Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid left England without an advantage and Curran conceded 23 before getting some respite with three wickets falling in as many deliveries.
Lewis’s onslaught ended when he bowled Ahmed in the deep while attempting an eighth six, while Hope was run out for the second match in a row, this time falling back after a quick single was disallowed by Pooran.
When Pooran inside moved closer to his stumps, England looked to be back in the contest but Rovman Powell’s 38 from 23 balls took them ahead before Rutherford took them home after his team needed 10 balls out of the last eight balls.