West Indies vs England 3rd T20I Review: Before the start of this series, captain Butler in a Press conference said we have only had 1 bad tournament on being asked about their poor performance in the ODI World Cup.
After the West Indies series, I think he can add 2 more to that list. After losing the ODI series 2-1 and starting the T20 series with a loss England was expected to make a comeback in the 2nd T20 but continuing the same form they lost the match by 10 runs.
After winning the toss Butler decided to Bat first both teams made 1 change. England brought Moeen in place of Ducket while Motie came in place for Shepherd.
Batting first WI were 48/1 after 6 overs with Barndon King and Pooran batting. After the powerplay, Spinners Rashid and Rehan Ahmad dominated the game and dismissed Pooran, Shai Hope, and Hetmyer in consecutive overs.
WI were 55/4 after 9 overs from there Skipper Powell and Brandon King made a strong comeback and in the 16th over Powell smashed Curran for 30 runs which turned the game. WI scored 176 in 20 overs Brandon King remained not out at 82 off 52 balls, and Skipper Powell scored 50 off 29 balls.
Chasing 177 was not going to be easy as England had to face Akeal Hossein and Gudhasen Motie and their struggle against quality spin is known around the world.
Butler got out in the 3rd over of the Inning to Hossein. Salt and Will Jacks played for some time but both got out to Alzari Joseph after the powerplay. England was stuck clueless and promoted Sam curran up the order at No.4 to tackle the left-arm spinners but even this did not work in their favor of them as Motie bowled the spell of his life giving away just 9 runs in his spell of 4 overs and picking up the wicket of dangerous Livingstone. England was left behind in the chase some late hope was given but the strokes of Curran and Moeen were not enough to take them over the line and ended up losing the game by 10 runs. Sam Curran scored a 32 ball 50 and Moeen hit a 22 not out of 13 balls. Big names Butler, Livingstone, and Harry Brook again failed to deliver causing Englishmen yet another defeat. Apart from Motie Hossein and Alzari were the pick of bowling both shared 5 wickets. Alzari gave crucial breakthroughs when needed. Brandon King was awarded Man of the Match was his 82 Not Out. WI now has a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series. The return of Russel, Pooran, etc. have boosted the WI squad and they have again started to look threatening in the shorter format.
Both teams meet again on Saturday 16th December for the 3rd T2O of the series. England have a tough job on their hand to make a comeback and keep the 5-match series alive.
