After a stunning mid-innings comeback, England’s white-ball struggles continued on Tuesday as it fell by four wickets to the West Indies in the opening Twenty20 International. Sent in, the tourists had an immediate impact, scoring 77 runs at the end of the first power play and 112 after 10 overs. But when Andre Russell led a comeback by taking 3-19 in his first Twenty20 international in two years, England fell apart to be all out for 171 in the 20th over.
In addition, West Indies faced challenges during the run chase, including a brief rain delay and losses as they fell from 101-4 in the twelfth over to 123-6 in the fifteenth. However, the West Indies reached their mark with 11 balls remaining after some powerful hitting by captain Rovman Powell swung the game back in the home team’s favour.
Russell was unbeaten on 29 balls from 14 balls, and Powell was undefeated on 31 from 15 balls. To lead the most successful T20 run chase at Kensington Oval, both batsmen smacked sixes out of the stadium.
Russell, 35, won Player of the Match honours.
Earlier, England appeared to be off to a winning start thanks to Phil Salt and captain Jos Buttler, who was back in the opening role after batting in the middle order in the one-day international series loss.
In the opening over, Salt hit 13 runs, three of which were boundaries, and England raced to 50 in 4.5 overs. When 26 runs were scored off the sixth over—the first one bowled by Alzarri Joseph—which included 10 extras, the scoring rate increased even further.
In the seventh over, Russell ended the opening partnership of 77 runs when Shimron Hetmeyer brilliantly caught Salt at deep mid-wicket. The fielder stepped beyond the boundary and back into play to clinch the catch.
Russell’s discovery of the slower ball as the most successful delivery on the Kensington Oval pitch coincided with his breakthrough. That insight played a pivotal role in the West Indies’ recovery.
The discovery also benefited Joseph, who settled for a 3-54 finish after conceding 17 runs in his second over, including seven wides.
In just 14 balls, England fell from 117-2 to 129-5. Before Russell got the crucial wicket of Liam Livingston (27), Liam Livingston and Sam Curran (13 from 14 balls) staged a brief comeback. England’s final four wickets fell for six runs, as they finished at 165-6.
Brandon King struck two sixes and a four for 16 runs in the West Indies’ opening over, continuing their impressive start. They too managed to reach 50 in 4.5 overs, but only after King was removed for 22 from 12 deliveries.
When he was out at the beginning of the eighth over, Kyle Myers had made 31 off 21 balls, pushing the total to 78. The host team were well on course to beat the England mark, reaching the West Indies’ 100 in 10.1 overs.
However, in his 100th encounter, Adil Rashid became the first England bowler to capture 100 wickets in T20 internationals when he took out Hetmeyer after Rehan Ahmed had already dismissed Nicholas Pooran (13) with his second ball.
Rain forced players off the pitch for more than half an hour while West Indies was leading 108–4 in the thirteenth over. The West Indies hitters had to deal with a weaker ball and a more unpredictable pitch when the players returned without losing any overs.
The best bowlers for England were Rehan with 3-39 and Rashid with 2-25.
