England survive to level series after astonishing West Indies onslaught

By Sports Desk January 23, 2022

England edged out West Indies by one run in an extraordinary second T20I at Kensington Oval, just about making up for their wretched start to the series.

There looked to be no doubt about the outcome when West Indies crumbled to 98-8 in pursuit of England's 171-8, but Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd both blazed innings of 44 not out to leave the home side just short on 170-8.

Hosein finished the match with three consecutive sixes off Saqib Mahmood, whose final over cost 28 runs as West Indies' chase ended in heroic failure.

After a nine-wicket battering on Saturday, England delivered a more competitive performance, with Reece Topley making a successful return to international cricket. For Topley, this was a first T20I appearance since facing South Africa in March 2016 and his brilliance had West Indies in immediate trouble at 6-2 in their reply to a solid England score.

After a relatively slow start, Jason Roy carted Fabian Allen for 24 runs from the 11th over as England began to pile on the runs. Roy top-scored with 45 before he was caught just inside the ropes at long-on by Kieron Polland off Shepherd, while Moeen Ali made a useful 31 and Chris Jordan flung the bat for 27 from 15 balls.

Topley then gave England a superb start with the ball, snaring Brandon King lbw with the second delivery of West Indies' reply before smartly running out Shai Hope.

Nicholas Pooran had been dropped twice before James Vince held an exemplary diving catch at deep midwicket to give Moeen the wicket of the dangerman for 24 in the eighth over, and West Indies imploded from there, or so it seemed.

Adil Rashid had Pollard and Darren Bravo pinned lbw, each time needing a review to get the decision, before Ali accounted for Jason Holder and Odean Smith in the 12th over, leaving the home side on 65-7.

Fabian Allen followed for 12 at the start of the 16th over, but then came the big flurry as West Indies, with two wickets remaining, got to the point where they needed 38 from the final two overs. Topley temporarily applied the brakes, but Mahmood was almost powerless to resist the big-hitting ninth-wicket pair, Shepherd making his runs from 28 balls and Hosein from just 16 deliveries.


A theme persists

West Indies have now alternated between victory and defeat in their last five men's T20I home matches. Their lower order gave England a headache in the closing overs, but recent history pointed to West Indies probably struggling to follow up their opening win. Indeed, the last time West Indies won their first two T20Is in a calendar year was in 2016, as they beat England and Sri Lanka in consecutive matches.

West Indies go down fighting

The hosts looked toast when they went seven down, but the lower order made England suffer horrendously, even as West Indies fell short of the victory target. The tourists' bowlers were seriously unsettled by the big hitting of Shepherd and Hosein, and there might be a lasting psychological impact caused by that pair, ahead of the third game in the five-match series on Wednesday.

Related items

  • Williams hits 52 as Jamaica open CWI T20 Blaze campaign with seven-wicket win over Windward Islands Williams hits 52 as Jamaica open CWI T20 Blaze campaign with seven-wicket win over Windward Islands

    Newly crowned CG United Women’s Super50 Cup champions Jamaica opened their account in the CWI T20 Blaze with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Windward Islands Women at Warner Park on Sunday.

    The Windwards, after winning the toss and batting first, posted 117-5 from their 20 overs.

    Openers Qiana Joseph and Jannilea Glasgow were the chief scorers with 56 and 37, respectively, while Chedean Nation led the Jamaica bowling with 3-19 from her three overs.

    Jamaica then needed only 16 overs to reach 118-3 thanks to a 35-ball 52 from Rashada Williams. Her opening partner Natasha McLean contributed 19 while Captain Stafanie Taylor and Chinelle Henry were the not out batters with 16 and 13, respectively.

    Zaida James took 2-16 from her four overs for the Windwards.

  • It’s a lot of fun – Heather Knight still enjoying captaining England It’s a lot of fun – Heather Knight still enjoying captaining England

    Heather Knight believes she still has a “lot to offer” as England captain after nearly eight years in the post.

    Knight succeeded Charlotte Edwards, who had a decade-long stint in the position, in June 2016 and her tenure has coincided with some ground-breaking moments for women’s cricket, both domestically and worldwide.

    England head coach Jon Lewis recently praised Knight’s longevity and commitment as “second to none” after she withdrew from the Women’s Premier League to play a full part in the tour of New Zealand.

    While great rival Meg Lanning stepped down as Australia captain and retired from international cricket late last year, Knight insisted she still gets a kick out of leading England and has much more to give.

    “It’s a lot of fun and I’m still enjoying doing it,” the 33-year-old told the PA news agency.

    “As long as I’m moving things and myself forward and still enjoying it, it’s something I want to continue to do.

    “When I think it’s eight years, it seems like a hell of a long time but it’s gone very fast, that’s for sure, and I still feel like I’ve got a lot to offer the team to keep moving things forward.

    “I enjoy that responsibility of trying to change. I’ve had to adapt my leadership as the years have gone and I quite enjoy doing that.

    “There’s always a big tournament around the corner these days, there’s one every year so there’s always something to work towards and try and have a chance of being successful in.”

    Knight oversaw England’s seminal World Cup triumph in 2017, when they beat India in the Lord’s final, but global trophies have since been out of their reach, hoovered up by the better-resourced Australia juggernaut.

    England won both white-ball series against their fierce rivals in the multi-format Ashes last year but Knight reckons Australia are still the side to beat ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

    “Teams are starting to challenge them which is a really healthy place to be,” Knight said.

    “But Australia are still a very good team and ultimately they’re still the target everyone is looking to knock down.”

    England take on New Zealand in Dunedin in the first of five T20s in the early hours of Tuesday morning as they begin building towards the next global event, scheduled to be held in September and October.

    They will be without Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Alice Capsey and Danni Wyatt for the first three T20s – a prearranged agreement which allowed the quartet to focus on their WPL commitments.

    But that allows those on the fringes a chance to make their mark, with Tammy Beaumont set for her 100th T20 appearance, more than two years after her 99th cap. The 33-year-old was jettisoned ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games but she has elbowed her way back in following some sparkling knocks in 2023.

    “The door’s not shut to anyone,” Knight added. “There is that opportunity for players coming in and it will be really interesting to see how they do.

    “Tammy’s not been around the T20 stuff for a long time, she’s gone away and worked on her game a lot and done things a little bit differently. She massively deserves that opportunity to come back in and open the batting in T20 cricket.

    “Everyone knows Tammy is a gritty cricketer, a bit of a fighter and loves a challenge so I’m super excited how she does with this opportunity she’s got.”

  • Beckoning Bundesliga record a testament to Kane's quality – James Beckoning Bundesliga record a testament to Kane's quality – James

    Harry Kane's efforts for Bayern Munich will be worthy of the Ballon d'Or should the England captain break the Bundesliga goalscoring record, so says David James.

    A week on from becoming the first player to score four hat-tricks in a debut Bundesliga season, Kane netted his 31st league goal of the campaign in Bayern's 5-2 win over Darmstadt on Saturday, seeing him surpass Uwe Seeler (from 1963-64) for the most goals in his first term in Germany's top tier.

    Kane has now netted 37 goals in 35 appearances across all competitions for Bayern since his switch from Tottenham, outperforming his expected goals (xG) of 30.19.

    Of players in Europe's big five leagues, only Kylian Mbappe has scored more goals (38) than Kane, whose tally of 47 goal contributions leads the way across the continent.

    With eight league games remaining, Kane is well on course to better Robert Lewandowski's Bundesliga record of 41 goals, which was set during Bayern's all-conquering 2020-21 campaign, and James feels that is evidence enough of the former Spurs star's world-class ability.

    "The fact that he could break the Bundesliga record for goals this year, I think, is a testament to how good Harry Kane is," he told Stats Perform.

    "He could be the man who scored the most goals for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, which would be better than Lewandowski, who people think should have won a Ballon d'Or for the amount of goals he scored in the Bundesliga."

    Kane's form this season has been one of the few positives for Bayern, as for the first time since Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund denied them the Bundesliga in 2012, they look set to finish second, 10 points behind Xabi Alonso's high-flying Bayer Leverkusen.

    James, though, feels there is still more to come from Kane, who will go up against his old rivals Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals.

    "I think he's doing a marvellous job," James added.

    "I think he understands completely how to play football, and that might sound a bit funny, but he knows what to do to be better."

    There was some concern for Kane, however, who sustained an ankle injury in Saturday's win over Darmstadt, though the 30-year-old will join up with the England squad this week.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.