West Indies defeat England in the T20I Series thanks to Shai Hope

<p>West Indies defeated Jos Buttler’s England team by a margin of white-ball double.© AFP<br />
In a tight match, Shai Hope’s unbeaten 43 helped the West Indies defeat England by four wickets and win the T20I series 3-2. After West Indies failed to establish a rhythm after England was bowled out for 132 in the match’s decisive over, Hope kept their response together and went on to win the match with a huge six off the second ball of the last over. As they are ready to co-host the World Cup in the shortest format in June, the victory marks the West Indies’ third consecutive triumph in the T20 international series in 2023.</p>
<p><img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-318392″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-west-indies-defeat-england-in-the-t20i-series-thanks-to-shai-hope-images-44.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com west indies defeat england in the t20i series thanks to shai hope images 44″ width=”791″ height=”496″ title=”West Indies defeat England in the T20I Series thanks to Shai Hope 6″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-west-indies-defeat-england-in-the-t20i-series-thanks-to-shai-hope-images-44.jpg 284w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-west-indies-defeat-england-in-the-t20i-series-thanks-to-shai-hope-images-44-150×94.jpg 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 791px) 100vw, 791px” /></p>
<p>Jos Buttler’s England team, who had already lost the 50-over series in the Caribbean 2-1, had a sad finale to their mini-tour.</p>
<p>The low-scoring match stood in stark contrast to England’s team-record 267 on Tuesday, but West Indies were able to extend their T20i series victories against South Africa and India thanks to favorable bowling conditions.</p>
<p>The slow left-arm Gudakesh Motie took good advantage of the surface at the Brian Lara Academy, scooping up three wickets for 24 runs in his four overs.</p>
<p>The second left-arm orthodox spinner for the West Indies, Akeal Hosein, contributed two for 20 in his four overs as the home team held England to the lowest goal they had set for the series.</p>
<p>When Buttler attempted to turn seamer Jason Holder down the leg-side after stepping outside the off-stump, Oshane Thomas caught him and dismissed England’s captain for 11.</p>
<p>Hosein next dismissed Jacks with a stunning ball, and Motie took a big turn when he took the wicket of Phil Salt (38).</p>
<p>Salt had made quick hundreds in the previous two matches, which England had won as they rallied to tie the series at 2-2.<br />
until Motie caught and bowled him, Liam Livingston had threatened with a quick twenty-eight, and Moeen Ali had also been threatening until Andre Russell’s teamwork saw him caught as he walked towards the boundary rope with the ball.<br />
With only three balls left in their 20 overs, Sam Curran was caught by Sherfane Rutherford off Holder, bowling out England.<br />
After Topley removed Brandon King, the home team’s reply was off to a fast start with 20 from the first two overs. England had optimism when Woakes bowled Nichola Pooran.<br />
But Sherfane Rutherford (30) and Hope shared a 41-run partnership that steadied the batting, only for England to exert some last-minute pressure when Topley took Rutherford in the 17th over and Rashid removed Rutherford.<br />
West Indies needed nine runs from the last over after left-arm seamer Sam Curran produced a superb penultimate over that removed Andre Russell while only allowing two runs to be conceded.<br />
Vital Hope<br />
Holder’s inside edge gave the West Indies a quick three before Woakes went wide and full to Hope, who thrilled the home fans by smashing the ball over the rope.<br />
“We kept on losing wickets at key times but we always knew that Shai Hope was going to be an important man on this wicket,” Powell said.</p>
<p>“We realized this wasn’t a wicket that offered a lot of shots but if we have someone in the middle order who can get to 40 off 35 balls, that would serve us as a batting group well,” he said.<br />
Buttler said that attempting to push strokes early in their innings had cost England dearly.<br />
It’s likely that we weren’t able to adjust fast enough. In my opinion, 160 would have been a respectable score to attempt to defend. “I felt we did well to hang in as long as we did, and (then) we needed wickets to try to win the game,” he said.<br />
“If we would have had a few more runs to play with, we could have put a bit more pressure on the opposition but I thought it was a really good effort with the ball,” he said.</p>