Sam Curran fell short in his attempt at atonement with the bat as England were left with a mountain to climb after the West Indies moved 2-0 ahead in their T20 series.
Thumped for 30 in his second and last over by a rampant Rovman Powell, whose 50 off 28 balls propelled the Windies to 176 for seven, Curran was elevated several places to four in England’s batting order.
He made 50 himself – with four fours and three sixes – before succumbing to a catch on the boundary from his 32nd ball and England settled for 166 for seven to lose by 10 runs on a hot day in Grenada.
Adil Rashid did not concede a single boundary as he collected figures of 4-0-11-2, while Tymal Mills was impressive at the death but England’s pace options lacked a cutting edge and Rehan Ahmed was expensive as the Windies racked up 13 sixes, five of them from opener Brandon King, who made an unbeaten 82.
England had their moments with the bat, most notably as Curran defied a previous T20 average of 11 from 26 innings, but some of their more-established stars were loose at inopportune moments.
Alzarri Joseph took three for 39 and slow left-armer Gudakesh Motie conceded nine from his allotment on a sluggish pitch to leave England needing to prevail in all three remaining T20s to win the series.
It has been a forgettable few days for Jos Buttler after their World Cup group-stage exit and ODI series loss to these opponents, although the England captain returned to a venue where he make a sensational 150 on his last visit four years ago.
However, he made five this time before charging at left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein and fluffing to short cover.
Jason Holder was taken the distance by Phil Salt, while Will Jacks clubbed three fours in an over off Andre Russell as England came out of the powerplay with 51 before Motie pegged them back.
He conceded just four from his first two overs and Joseph capitalised as England’s ODI openers looked to attack him. Salt departed for 25 and Jacks for 24, the pair tempted to swing into the wind after Joseph dangled the carrot of banging the ball halfway down the pitch.
Liam Livingstone put some pressure back on the Windies by pulling and driving Russell for fours before crashing a six for a third-successive boundary, while Curran got in the act, clearing deep midwicket.
But Livingstone could not resist going after Motie – in his final over – and was caught on the boundary, while Harry Brook also perished to spin off Hosein as England were left needing 67 from 30 balls.
Curran cleared the straight boundary off both Joseph and Russell, who followed up his star showing in the Windies’ win in Barbados by leaking 66 off four overs here.
But after bringing up a maiden T20 fifty, Curran skewed Joseph to deep point, effectively ending England’s hopes.
While the returning Moeen Ali – in for Ben Duckett in England’s only line-up change – made 22 not out, the tourists were left with too much to do after requiring 27 in six balls.
A quiet start to the Windies’ innings after England fielded upon winning the toss was punctuated when King belted the returning Moeen for two sixes in an over but a 43-run opening stand ended as Kyle Mayers miscued Chris Woakes’ slower ball up to a backtracking Curran.
It was the start of the Windies losing four wickets in 17 balls as Woakes held on to a skier when Nicholas Pooran looked to take down Rashid, who had Shimron Hetmyer well caught by Moeen at slip.
Either side of Rashid’s double breakthrough, Ahmed castled Shai Hope with a sharp-turning googly.
No risks were taken against Rashid which left the Windies on 101 for four when he was bowled out with five overs left and Powell, on a run-a-ball 22, took matters into his own hands when Curran came back.
An inside edge for four was a streaky beginning but there was nothing fortunate in the way Powell then picked off Curran’s slower, length deliveries, including one baseball-style swing over long-off.
Jacqueline Williams, who became the first female umpire from the Caribbean to stand in a men’s T20 international, raised her arms skywards four times in total but Curran got a measure of revenge as Powell holed out from the final delivery of the over after bringing up a 27-ball fifty.
King tucked into Ahmed’s final offering but Mills dragged it back, conceding a combined 15 in the 18th and 20th overs and snaring Russell and Holder with the last two balls.
Pooran's unbeaten 48 in vain as Head, Sharma lead Sunrisers to dazzling 10-wicket win over Super Giants
Sunrisers Hyderabad hammered Lucknow Super Giants by 10 wickets with more than 10 overs to spare in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head struck an unbeaten 167 from the opening partnership to move SRH third in the points table, with LSG unable to come up with any answers to defend their own haul of 165-4.
Head plundered 89 from 30 balls, including eight fours and eight sixes, while Sharma's 75 from 28 had eight fours and six maximums, in an explosive batting display that saw the duo hit 100 inside the powerplay.
Earlier, Lucknow struggled to get going in their innings, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-12) conceding only singles and shutting down LSG's top order, who scored just 66 in the first 11.2 overs.
Former West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran continued his fine build up to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup with an unbeaten 26-ball 48, as he crafted a 99-run fifth-wicket stand with Ayush Badoni, who was also unbeaten on 55.
Pooran struck six fours and a solitary six, while Badoni's 30-ball knock had nine fours, as the two gave Lucknow a chance, but in the end, it was nowhere near enough.
Data Debrief: Sunrisers pounce again in the powerplay
Sunrisers scored 107 runs in the powerplay. In all of T20 cricket, there have only been seven instances of a team scoring 100 runs or more in the powerplay – SRH have the two top scores, with both coming this year.
Pooran and Badoni's 99-run partnership was LSG's highest for the fifth wicket in IPL, surpassing the previous record of 87 between Deepak Hooda and Badoni. However, it proved fruitless.
CPL's Russell urges greater collab between franchise leagues to avoid frequent schedule overlap
Caribbean Premier League (CPL)'s CEO believes scheduling arrangements through collaboration by the various T20 leagues should be routine to avoid the frequent tournament clashes, which forces players to fly from one tournament to another in a short window.
Russell’s suggestion came during an interview with ESPNcricinfo, as he called for regular meetings among franchise leagues owners and administrators to solve cricket's global scheduling crisis. This, as CPL and the Hundred have overlapped in the past, but will avoid a clash this season, following dialogue with England Cricket Board (ECB) earlier this year.
“[The ECB] have a defined window that they have to play in, and it happened that we could move everything out to ensure that we didn't clash [with the Hundred]. It makes absolutely zero sense if you've got [Sunil] Narine and [Andre] Russell having to fly back the day before the final of the Hundred. That's in no one's interests, and certainly not the Hundred's,” Russell declared.
"I hope that [collaboration] continues. It's not rocket science; it's what should happen with all leagues. It's just nonsense that we've got all this overlap when it just needs to be worked through. Scheduling is a challenge, I know, but it can't be that you have two leagues going at each other at the same time. To my mind, it doesn't make any sense,” he added.
While there is a precedent for leagues negotiating to manage potential clashes as shown by the PSL and ILT20, there were a number of leagues that ran simultaneously earlier in the year. Australia's Big Bash and New Zealand's Super Smash finished in mid-January; South Africa's SA20 and the UAE's ILT20 started in January and ran into February; the Bangladesh Premier League started in January and finished in March; and the Pakistan Super League ran from mid-February to mid-March.
With the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled for a return next year February, it is expected to further complicate the schedule where franchise leagues are concerned. It is for that reason why the general consensus among players worldwide is for global scheduling windows for franchise leagues and international cricket, to limit overlapping between the two.
While representatives of national governing bodies meet regularly at ICC level - most of whom control their own leagues - there is no specific forum for the owners and administrators of franchise leagues to discuss scheduling.
"It's the logical way to go - because we're all maturing, and we're all getting to a point where we are sustainable. They are generally regarded now as being part of the domestic calendar, wherever they are played,” Russell said.
“I think it is a case of, 'OK, let's have that group of people and say how do you figure out the schedule to the benefit of everyone. I think it's workable. Others might think it's not, but I just think the conversations at least need to take place, just to make sure [there's no clash],” he opined.
Russell used the recent release of Major League Cricket (MLC)'s 2024 fixture list –two months before the tournament starts – as evidence of a shortage of "joined-up thinking" among administrators. MLC is scheduled to begin on July 5 and, as such, is on a six-day overlapping course with the Hundred.
"They've only just come out with their schedule. Why does it take leagues so long to put a schedule together? We have all year to figure it out,” he noted.
That said, Russell also encouraged administrators to find a solution to the perverse incentives that emerged for players earlier this year.
"It can't be right. I saw the other day that where leagues were overlapping, a player who got knocked out before the semi-finals or finals could actually make more money by going to another league. That shouldn't be a thing,” he stated.
Barbados to welcome Oman early for preparation camp ahead of T20 World Cup
As the much-anticipated ICC Men’s T20 World Cup draws closer, Barbados will welcome West Asian team Oman to the island for their pre-tournament camp ahead of the global showpiece to be hosted jointly in the Caribbean and United States.
While in Barbados, Oman’s camp, scheduled for May 14-24, will also include three T20 matches – two against a Barbados Select XI, and one match against University of the West Indies –as they fine tune preparations for the June 1-29 World Cup.
The camp is being organised by former England batsman and West Indies Senior Men’s Selector Roland Butcher, who saw it fit to assist Oman in getting acclimatised to the Eastern Caribbean Island, which will host a number of games throughout the tournament, including the final.
“It is great that the Oman team will be coming out to Barbados early for their pre-tournament camp. They will use the period to get acclimatised to the conditions, as quick as possible. We are delighted to have them in Barbados – this country is the ideal place to start their preparations,” Butcher said.
“We believe the time spent here will be hugely beneficial towards them putting on a good showing in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024,” he added.
Duleep Mendis, the former Sri Lanka captain and Oman’s Head Coach expressed his team’s delight and anticipation ahead of their arrival in Barbados.
“It is one of the cricket locations which we all dream of visiting and we want to make the most of our time as we prepare. We have high ambitions in this tournament, and we want to focus on our plans from the moment we touch down in a country which is known for its cricket culture and heroes,” Mendis shared.
Oman recently named their World Cup squad, which will be led by all-rounder Aqib Ilyas, who takes the reins from Zeeshan Maqsood. This year’s World Cup will mark Oman’s third appearance in the last four editions of the tournament, which underlines their success and consistency in performing at the global level.
Oman enjoyed a dazzling 2023 campaign, as they copped the Gulf Cricket Cup, followed by an unbeaten run in the ICC T20 World Cup Asia qualifiers, which secured their spot in the upcoming tournament. They were also runners-up in this year’s ACC Premier Cup.
The West Asian team, drawn in Group B alongside Australia, England, Scotland, and Namibia, will open their T20 World Cup campaign against the latter, in Barbados, on June 2.
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