West Indies, led by explosive half-centuries from openers Shai Hope and Evin Lewis, chased down a target of 219 to beat England with an over to spare to win by five wickets in their T20 international on Saturday.
The match was dead with England having already won the first three matches of the five-match series, but the crowd at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground were treated to some high-class entertainment as West Indies enjoyed their second run chase most successful in T20Is. .
England openers Phil Salt and Will Jacks made 54 runs for the first wicket before Alzarri Joseph had Jacks caught behind the last ball of the fifth over.
But Salt continued to take full advantage of a good batting track as he took England to 102 before being bowled out by Roston Chase in the tenth over for 55 with his four sixes and five fours.
Skipper Jos Buttler made 38 from 23, but it was an unbeaten 62 from Jacob Bethell and a useful 24 from 13 balls from Sam Curran that saw England post a solid score.
The West Indies top order struggled in this series, but this time Hope and Lewis attacked England from the start, quickly reducing the run rate.
Hope brought up his 50 from 23 balls – slamming a short ball from Rehan Ahmed to mid-wicket to reach his half-century.
Lewis, who had played a supporting role, went on the offensive by hitting Liam Livingstone for three sixes in the eighth over and he too reached his half-century (26 balls) when he pulled Curran through square leg to four.
Rehan Ahmed finally got the breakthrough when Lewis mistimed a cover off Dan Mousley, the West Indies opener going for 68 including seven sixes with England in a dominant position at 136-1.
With the next ball Hope departed, run out by Livingstone, and England claimed a third wicket in as many balls when Nicholas Pooran was bowled by Ahmed after finding the inside edge.
Suddenly West Indies were 136-3 and with a new pair in the crease, England sensed an opportunity to turn things around.
But skipper Rovman Powell showed no nerves as he hit 38 off 23 balls with three sixes before being trapped underweight by John Turner.
Sharfane Rutherford saw the home side claim a morale-boosting victory with her unbeaten 29 ending the match by smashing Mousley for two sixes.
“The guys were more engaged today,” Powell said. “It’s been a series where you win the toss, win the match, but the guys played well – 3-2 is better than 4-1, there’s still a lot to play for,” he said in anticipation of the final match on Sunday.
Despite the loss, Butler said he had few complaints about the performance.
“I thought it was a great wicket. We got off to a good start with Jacks and Salty. I thought we needed at least 220. They bowled exceptionally well, put us under pressure. I thought that we played well, had a good score and they played well to chase it down,” he said.
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