West Indies vs England
WI vs ENG 2nd ODI: A three-match ODI series will be played between England and the West Indies. After losing the first match of this series, the English team made a strong comeback and defeated West Indies in the second match at the Richards Stadium in Antigua on December 6 (Wednesday). They won this match comfortably thanks to the excellent bowling of Sam Curran and Gus Atkinson. Sam Curran took three wickets in this match while Gus Atkinson took two important wickets.
Great bowling from England
England captain Jos Buttler won the toss for the second consecutive time in the series and this time he chose to bowl first as his decision to bat first in the first ODI was not in the best interest of the team. The surface initially had a lot to offer the fast bowlers and England’s fast bowlers took full advantage of this. In such a situation, the West Indies team immediately fell behind. Within the first seven overs, West Indies’ score was four wickets for 23 runs.
A 129-run partnership for the fifth wicket between captain Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford rescued the hosts from a sticky situation. Hope’s innings of 68 runs in 68 balls and Rutherford’s innings of 60 runs in 83 balls gave West Indies a respectable score. Liam Livingstone broke the partnership for the 5th wicket with the wicket of Rutherford, bringing England back into the innings once again. The English batting all-rounder dealt the West Indies a double blow by dismissing Hope in the 34th over of the game. As a result, the West Indies team couldn’t even reach its quota of 50 overs and collapsed for 202 runs in 39.4.
The chase is very easy to complete
England maintained their dominance from the start of the chase. Will Jack and Phil Salt put on a half-century partnership for the opening wicket in 5.5 overs. Although Salt could not continue his brilliant performance, scoring 21 runs off 15 balls, Jacques continued to compete against the Windies and scored 73 runs off 72 balls. His storming innings included six fours and four sixes.
After Jack’s dismissal, Buttler (58* from 45 balls) and Harry Brook (43* from 49 balls) took over the innings and ensured England won without interruption. The England captain ended his batting drought and achieved the historic feat by hitting four fours and three sixes. Buttler became the fifth England batsman to score 5000 ODI runs and after the game he seemed very happy with his performance and the team’s performance. This is the team’s first tour after the ODI World Cup.
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