Andre Russell celebrates one of his three wickets with teammates.
ICC
Andre Russell starred on his comeback and the West Indies’ conveyor belt of six-hitters sent England tumbling to a four-wicket defeat in Barbados in the first of five T20s.
Russell took a format-best three for 19 in his first international since the 2021 T20 World Cup to help induce an England collapse from 117 for two in the 11th over to 171 all out, with three balls unused.
England disintegrated at the back end, losing their final five wickets for six runs in 15 balls, before the West Indies reeled in their target and completed their highest successful run chase at venue, with 11 balls to spare. The run chase was helped by clearing the rope 14 times.
The Windies looked to be in strife after slipping to 123 for six, but Russell with a 14-ball 29, and captain Rovman Powell with a 15-ball 31, put on an unbroken 49 in 21 deliveries to get them home.
Scores: England 171 all out (19.3 overs); West Indies 172-6 (18.1 overs)
Adil Rashid became the first English man to take 100 T20 wickets on his 100th appearance – he was given his cap by Andrew Flintoff – while fellow leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed collected three for 39.
But despite a switch of format following a miserable World Cup and ODI series defeat against their hosts, England suffered another setback and must regroup quickly for the second T20 in Grenada.
They were on for a 200-plus total following a 77-run opening stand in the powerplay, led by Phil Salt’s freewheeling 40 off 20 balls but never recovered the momentum after he was dismissed by Russell.
Salt edged his second ball past slip off Akeal Hosein for four after England were sent in on the pitch used in the final ODI, but he settled with two more conventional strokes to the rope.
Buttler was in his Lancashire team-mate’s slipstream but brought up England’s 50 with a six off Russell after finally connecting with a ramp at the third attempt.
Joseph leaked 25 in an introductory over spanning nine balls, where he was sent the distance by Salt and saw a wide slip through the legs of wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran en route to the boundary.
It was inevitably Russell who made the breakthrough immediately after the powerplay as Salt tried to muscle over deep midwicket only to be caught by a juggling Shimron Hetmyer.
But Joseph’s nightmare start continued after back-to-back sixes off Jacks, compounding the second by overstepping and conceding 37 off his first seven legitimate balls.
Joseph’s bold decision to take pace off was rewarded as Jacks sent another booming swing straight up in the air and departed for 17 while Buttler, who had never really hit his stride at a venue where he made a golden duck on Saturday, holed out for 39 off 31 deliveries.
At 117 for three, England were in the driving seat, but wickets tumbled from then on as Brook tickled behind off Jason Holder while Duckett got into a tangle attempting a scoop off a much wider delivery from Romario Shepherd than anticipated, instead reverse ramping to short third.
Liam Livingstone briefly sparkled as he thrashed Holder for successive sixes in the 17th over but then chopped on to his stumps for 27, too early on an off-cutter from Russell, who then snared Rehan Ahmed.
Joseph accounted for Rashid and Tymal Mills as England failed to bat out their overs and they were on the back foot in reply after leaking 30 in the first two overs.
Brandon King started the rout with 16 off Sam Curran but added just six more before being dismissed after an outstretched catch from Duckett, who dropped a similar chance to reprieve Kyle Mayers on 17.
Mayers had already put Will Jacks and Tymal Mills on to the Greenidge and Haynes Stand roof and cleared the ropes twice in Ahmed’s opening gambit before perishing for 35, falling metres short of a fifth six from Rashid’s first delivery.
Having amassed 78 in the first seven overs, the Windies found post-powerplay scoring as difficult as England, adding just 39 more in the next seven, which included Ahmed taking a return catch off Pooran and Hetmyer picking out Duckett in the deep to give Rashid his landmark wicket.
Shai Hope belted his third six but perished immediately afterwards for 36 when he targeted Ahmed again while the teenager had two in two when Romario Shepherd – England’s nemesis in the 2-1 ODI loss – edged to slip.
The Windies needed 43 off the last 26 balls but Powell turned the tide with two monster hits off Livingstone while Russell got a top-edge all the way in the next over off Mills.
England’s last roll of the dice was Rashid but he was smeared high over the leg-side boundary by Russell, who fittingly sealed a 1-0 lead for the Windies by hitting Curran for four.
Babar relieved after Fakhar and Rizwan guide Pakistan past Ireland
Babar Azam was left relieved after Pakistan made light work of chasing 194 to keep their T20I series with Ireland alive and take it to a winner-takes-all-decider.
Andy Balbirnie's 77 helped Ireland to their first victory over Pakistan in this format on Friday, but Babar's side responded in style on Sunday with their own seven-wicket triumph.
Lorcan Tucker's 51 powered Ireland to an impressive 193-7 in Dublin as Shaheen Shah Afridi registered figures of 3-49 and Abbas Afridi managed 2-33.
Yet that total was far from imposing as Pakistan chased the target down with 19 balls to spare thanks to a remarkable partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman.
The pair combined for a 140-run stand off only 78 balls for the third wicket as Fakhar smashed 78 from 40, while Rizwan was unbeaten on 75 after facing just 46.
"I'm relieved, credit to all batters," Babar said after the win. "We lost a few wickets early on but we kept the momentum going.
"Fakhar is very experienced and played according to situation which demanded positive intent. It's a good side, we got positives in this match and will look to give 100 per cent in the next match."
Rizwan added: "They played really well against us. It was not an easy chase because the Ireland bowlers knew their conditions better.
"They gave us a difficult time early on, but we decided that chasing 194, we have to attack. You're always under pressure when you lose especially with World Cup around the corner."
The two sides will meet again in Dublin on Tuesday to settle the three-match T20I series.
IPL: RCB keep playoff hopes alive after dominating Capitals
Royal Challengers Bengaluru kept their unlikely Indian Premier League playoff hopes alive after a fifth straight win as they defeated Delhi Capitals by 47 runs on Sunday.
Faf du Plessis' side leapfrogged the Capitals with this victory, moving into fifth in the standings and just two points behind fourth-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of RCB's final game with Chennai Super Kings.
Rajat Patidar set the tone with a 32-ball 52, alongside Will Jacks' rapid 41 runs from 29 deliveries, before Cameron Green added an unbeaten 32 to guide RCB to 187-9.
Impact substitute David Warner mustered only one in response, with number three Abishek Porel also out for just two runs, as Delhi limped to 30-4 inside four overs of the second innings.
Yash Dayal managed to run out opener Jake Fraser-McGurk on 21 before Axar Patel – in as captain for the suspended Rishabh Pant – offered resistance with 57 from 39 balls in the middle order.
Yet Dayal dismissed the Capitals captain to claim an impressive 3-20, assisted by Lockie Ferguson's 2-23, as RCB wrapped up a convincing victory in bowling Delhi out for 140.
Data debrief: Capitals contained
Kuldeep's last over went for 22 as the Capitals leg-spinner finished with 1 for 52 off his four overs, the second time he has gone for over fifty runs after the four for 55 versus Sunrisers.
That dismal showing with the ball was in stark contrast to the RCB bowlers, with Green also chipping in with an economical 1-19 and Mohammed Siraj's 1-33.
Despite victory, Dinesh Karthik claimed an unwanted piece of history for the most ducks in IPL history, moving onto 18 and past Glenn Maxwell after falling to Khaleel Ahmed (2-31) in the first innings.
Broad fears for inexperienced England bowling attack after Anderson retirement
Stuart Broad fears an inexperienced England bowling attack could be exposed to problems after James Anderson announced his Test retirement decision on Saturday.
England's all-time leading wicket-taker Anderson will end his remarkable red-ball career after the first Test against West Indies on July 10.
Anderson has taken 700 wickets in 187 Tests, the most by any pace bowler in history, but the 41-year-old will play for a final time after Brendon McCullum signalled a change of plans for the future.
Matthew Potts, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson are all potential replacements, though Broad remains concerned for Ben Stokes' bowling options going forward.
"England could easily go into a Test match this summer with a very, very inexperienced bowling group," Broad told Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
"If you don't play a [Chris] Woakes, Mark Wood has a rest and there's no Jimmy Anderson, you could have three seamers and a spinner out there potentially with 20 caps between them.
"That's quite scary as a Test captain I would have thought. We don't know how much [Ben] Stokesy's going to bowl – we hope he does.
"But that could leave you a bit exposed. There's only one way to find out with bowlers, and that's to give them a go."
Anderson's opening-bowler partner Broad retired after last year's Ashes, having finished his illustrious career with 604 Test wickets.
Having neither of the pair available to lead the line with the red ball in future may pose problems and Broad reiterated his concern over the gaping gap Anderson's retirement will leave.
"There's going to certainly be a huge hole left by Jimmy Anderson that someone is going to have to step into," he added.
"And not just by swinging the new ball. But by communicating, by keeping calm if the boundaries are leaking, by tactically being aware of what field works at certain grounds, pitches and times of Test matches.
"Ultimately, you don't learn that unless you're thrown in."
Broad, however, remains hopeful that Stokes and McCullum will find the right combinations to take England into a new era of Test cricket.
"I think exposure for some bowlers now is really important, because there's talent out there," Broad continued.
"There's bowlers out there that need a bit of exposure to see what it's about in Test match cricket.
"They may need time to adjust their training plan and how they operate before a tour in two years' time."
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