West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said the T20 World Cup defending champions would have to take a wretched performance against England on the chin.

A desperate 55 all out from West Indies allowed England to sprint to a six-wicket victory in Dubai, with this Group 1 clash a rematch of the 2016 final.

England's small measure of revenge for that heartbreaking defeat stemmed from West Indies posting the second-lowest T20 international total by a Test-playing nation.

Pollard said: "Being bowled out for 50-odd as an international team is never acceptable but we'll come back stronger."

He explained: "We didn't bat well and it's disappointing to start our tournament like that, being defending champions.

"But we have to accept it and take responsibility for what happened out there. We have to put this game to bed and move on.

"We just need to go back and look at the way we've performed and see if we can maybe find a medium as to how we approach it. It's very important we forget a game like this. For us, it's pretty simple – accept and move on."

Pollard sought to find a positive by praising the "intensity in the field" of his players as England chased their small target.

An England victory was all but a formality, however, and for Adil Rashid it was a day to remember, England's spinner taking 4-2 from 2.2 overs.

Rashid said afterwards: "I don't think we could have asked for a better start. We bowled exceptionally well and everything went to plan."

He added: "As a bowling unit, we know we have five or six match-winners and on any given day anyone can come on and get wickets. We don't want to look too far ahead and we'll take it a game at a time. Whatever's in front of us, we'll play that."

West Indies are next in action on Tuesday, when they play South Africa, while England must wait until Wednesday for a clash with Bangladesh.

England gained a measure of revenge by bowling sorry West Indies out for a paltry 55 as they thrashed the holders by six wickets in their first game of the T20 World Cup.

The Windies beat England in the 2016 World Cup final but humiliatingly crumbled to their second-lowest T20 International total in a totally one-sided Group 1 clash at the Dubai International Stadium on Saturday.

England had never beaten West Indies in their five previous T20 World Cup matches, however, they ended that record as the defending champions' embarrassing innings was over in 14.2 overs.

Adil Rashid claimed stunning best T20I figures of 4-2 after fellow spinner Moeen Ali (2-17) produced a magnificent opening spell.

Tymal Mills was also hugely impressive in his first T20I for his country since February 2017, taking 2-17 as England were flawless in the field, holding some excellent catches.

Chris Gayle (13) was the only Windies batter to reach double figures, with Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan claiming a wicket apiece.

Akeal Hosein claimed 2-24 as Kieron Pollard's side showed great character in the field after being blown away by the England bowlers, but Jos Buttler made an unbeaten 24 as England sealed an emphatic victory with 70 balls to spare.

A crushing win for Eoin Morgan's side put them top of the group, level on points with Australia.

 

Moeen sets the tone, Rashid puts Windies out of their misery

Eoin Morgan's decision to open the bowling with Moeen proved to be a masterstroke, as he removed Lendl Simmons and Shimron Hetmyer after taking a great catch for Woakes - picked with Mark Wood out due to an ankle injury - to see the back of Evin Lewis 

Moeen bowled 18 dot balls as he bowled four overs straight before Mills' pace and variety caused all sorts of problems. Rashid gave another demonstration that he is a world-class performer with the ball, claiming his four wickets off only 14 balls as the Windies folded.

Pitiful holders humbled

West Indies had no answer to the skill of the England bowlers as they posted the second-lowest T20I score by a member nation and the lowest by a Test-playing side.

While Morgan led England superbly with his clear thinking in the field, the Windies lost their heads with some poor shots and must regroup ahead of meeting with South Africa on Tuesday.

England's three-pronged spin attack proved to be the difference as the hosts squared the T20I series against Pakistan at Headingley with a 45-run win.

Jos Buttler returned to skipper England as captain Eoin Morgan sat out and he top scored with a stunning 59 from 39 deliveries at the top of the order.

Moeen Ali (36) and Liam Livingstone (38) supplied explosive middle-order contributions, but England lost wickets frequently and there was a suspicion their 200 all out in 19.5 was a touch shy of what was required in perfect batting conditions in a sweltering Leeds.

But a Pakistan batting line-up that posted 232-6 in a 31-run win at Trent Bridge on Friday were effectively shackled by leg-spinners Adil Rashid (2-30) and Matt Parkinson (1-25) and Moeen's off-spin (2-32), with paceman Saqib Mahmood the pick of the attack thanks to 3-33 that began with the vital wicket of visiting captain Babar Azam (22).

Jason Roy set the tone for England's innings with a huge six and a four off slow left-armer Imad Wasim (2-37) before holing out within the first over.

Dawid Malan scratched around for one off five deliveries – top-edging a sweep off Imad to be caught by Azam Khan – although there were no such problems for Moeen in his blistering 16-ball stay, nor Livingstone, who followed up his incredible century in Nottingham by bludgeoning two fours and three sixes. One of those remarkably cleared the grandstand at the Football Ground End.

Buttler was in typically sublime touch through extra cover and only fell to Mohammad Hasnain (3-51) with a thunderous hit straight to Babar at mid-off.

Jonny Bairstow, Tom Curran and Chris Jordan came and went without being able to produce anything of similar substance and the sense England had been slightly wasteful was heightened as Babar and Mohammad Rizwan (37) added 50 for the first wicket.

Babar skewed a cross-seam delivery from Mahmood to a diving Malan and, as Rashid and Parkinson got into their work, Pakistan were unable to regain their momentum.

A fine return catch from Rashid accounted for Rizwan, while Moeen had Mohammad Hafeez caught behind for 10 and bowled Fakhar Zaman with a beauty to scoop the player of the match award.

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