With a mega-event just around the corner, the last thing a team would like is to struggle against a side that is not even a part of the said event. But England had to endure this in Antigua as West Indies raced one-sidedly over the line. The first match of the three-match ODI series saw a huge involvement of rain, even threatening to turn the game into a washout at one point, much to the hosts’ chagrin. However, the Windies neutralized the looming threat of rain with their explosive batting to wrap up the game in a ball less than 26 overs.
Having been asked to bat first, England could not even survive the first powerplay without regular falls of wickets. Even for a rain-curtailed game, 209 was a very timid target. Much like England’s batting display. The openers, Will Jacks and Phil Salt, fell to Jayden Seales who last took an ODI wicket more than a year ago. He was wicketless during the recent ODI tour against Sri Lanka but England’s batters helped him get back into his groove. The visitors could hit a total of only two sixes, which came off Liam Livingstone’s bat as late as the 32nd over. A 72-run 84-ball partnership between Livingstone and vice captain Sam Curran helped England cross 200, which looked like a distant dream after the top fours’ horrible collapse.
Whats more of a worrying sign for England is that the bowlers put up an equally shambolic display. For a pitch where its was not a piece of cake to score runs, the visitors allowed Evin Lewis to strike at more than 130. In a bowling lineup with Jofra Archer, only Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone could get a wicket each. On top of that, Lewis struck as many as eight sixes, four times more than England’s team tally. Talking after the game ended, Gudakesh Motie revealed, to no one’s surprise, that the pitch was not offering much help to the bowlers. However, what helped Motie to bag a four-fer was sticking to miserly length and using pace to his advantage. Not only did the English bowlers lacked doing that, the fielders made it worse with a day full of fumbles on the field.
Before the next game, England have a lot of mending to do. Especially, with the Champions Trophy coming up. In England’s defense, this is a younger side without many of the experienced regulars. West Indies, however, have plenty of positives. Unlike England, they need not worry about the Champions Trophy, their nearest ODI format mega-event being the ODI World Cup in 2027. But it would be interesting to see whether they can carry the momentum throughout the series. Especially that the batting order has shown vulnerability to pressure and quality spin in the recent past. The most recent of which was in Sri Lanka almost a week ago, where they were utterly bewildered by the rank-turners on offer. The second ODI game will be played at the same venue on November 6. West Indies lead the series by 1-0.
