Decider looms in Bridgetown as curtain falls for ODIs in 2023

Big image – Final throes for 50-overs in 2023

Ding after which dong. Punch after which counterpunch. The collection arrange for a decider in Bridgetown. England discovered their ft after being wobbled within the first recreation however West Indies can nonetheless come again off the ropes with the purpose of touchdown a knockout blow beneath the Kensington Oval floodlights this weekend.

If they accomplish that, it will lead to a uncommon bilateral ODI collection win – their first towards Full Member opposition in additional than two-and-a-half years, and their first towards England since 2007. It would even be probably the most vital success of Shai Hope’s tenure, after he took cost of the one-day facet earlier this yr. Hope has led from the entrance to this point, scoring 177 runs from 151 balls for as soon as out, however wants larger consistency from the remainder of the workforce if they’re to as soon as once more expose English uncertainty within the format.

In half that was resulting from England taking their recreation up a notch following a tepid first outing. Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone handled the double-edged sword of their allrounder standing to share six wickets – Curran’s new-ball burst laying the early groundwork earlier than Livingstone eliminated West Indies’ two top-scorers. Then, after a gamebreaking assault from Will Jacks on the high of the order, England’s white-ball kingpin lastly reasserted his standing: Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 58 from 45 ended a run of 13 innings with out a fifty and eased the chase to a swift conclusion.

Buttler described himself afterwards as “fed up” together with his lack of runs, and you observed he could be equally dischuffed if his workforce have been to let the momentum slip once more. England have misplaced 11 of twenty-two accomplished ODIs this calendar yr, and won’t play the format once more till September 2024. Taking the collection spoils would scarcely make up for the frustration of the World Cup however it will no less than imply they will put 50-over cricket to mattress with a mug of cocoa earlier than ideas to the T20s and one other looming title defence.

Form information

West Indies LWLWL (final 5 accomplished ODIs, most up-to-date first)
England WLWWL

In the highlight – Phil Salt and Alzarri Joseph

West Indies’ new-ball bowling has come beneath as-Salt in each video games, and it has wanted the introduction of spin to calm issues down. At 27, Alzarri Joseph is probably the most skilled member of this assault and, newly appointed as Hope’s vice-captain, he carries a weight of additional duty throughout this collection. He bowled higher than figures of 1 for 65 within the first recreation recommend, however was manhandled through the opening exchanges within the second ODI – a three-over spell of 0 for 38 setting the tone for England to race away. With Oshane Thomas taking part in worldwide cricket for the primary time in two years and Romario Shepherd extra of an all-round choice, West Indies want Joseph to be their innovative.

Team news – Pope to pop in?

West Indies have been unchanged in Antigua however might look to stiffen the batting by bringing in Kjorn Ottley for his first look since 2021. Roston Chase presents an allrounder choice on his dwelling floor.

West Indies (possible): 1 Alick Athanaze, 2 Brandon King, 3 Keacy Carty/Kjorn Ottley, 4 Shai Hope (capt & wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Yannic Cariah, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Gudakesh Motie, 11 Oshane Thomas

England, too, have caught with the identical XI and would possibly see little motive to tinker for the deciding match – in any other case Ollie Pope, ostensibly within the Caribbean to proceed his rehab from a shoulder damage, and John Turner would maybe be pushing tougher for debuts within the format. Jofra Archer additionally educated with England on Friday however will not be in rivalry.

England (possible): 1 Will Jacks, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 Ben Duckett, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Rehan Ahmed, 11 Gus Atkinson.

Pitch and situations

The floor at Kensington Oval tends to supply a little bit of one thing for everybody, although rain through the build-up would possibly help the bowlers. In the final 4 years, six of the ten ODIs performed in Bridgetown have seen the workforce batting first bowled out for lower than 200 – however previous to that, it was the scene of England’s file ODI chase, after West Indies racked up 360 for 8. The forecast for Saturday is obvious.

Stats and trivia

  • England have received eight and misplaced six of their 14 ODIs at Kensington Oval. Their most up-to-date go to resulted in a 26-run loss, with Shimron Hetmyer scoring a century.
  • In the earlier recreation, on that very same 2019 tour, England achieved what remains to be their highest profitable chase – reeling in a goal of 361 with six wickets standing.
  • West Indies’ final bilateral collection win towards a Full Member got here in 2021, once they beat Sri Lanka 2-1 at dwelling. Since then, they’ve solely been victorious towards Netherlands and UAE.
  • Hope is eighteen runs shy of overtaking Gordon Greenidge and shifting into the highest ten of West Indies males’s ODI run-scorers.
  • Quotes

    “I still feel like I can affect games of cricket for England and that’s the major bonus for me at the moment. The ball’s coming out of my hand really well and I know for a fact that things are going to change around with the bat.”
    Liam Livingstone guarantees higher occasions with the bat after his starring position with the ball.

    Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick

    Source web site: www.espncricinfo.com

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