West Indies v England: Hosts win deciding fifth T20 to secure 3-2 series win
England lost the fifth and deciding T20 against West Indies by four wickets in Trinidad to suffer a 3-2 series defeat.
After being put in to bat, England struggled for fluency at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy and were bowled out for 132 off 19.3 overs.
Sam Curran gave England a chance with a brilliant penultimate over, taking a wicket and conceding two runs, to leave the hosts needing nine from the last.
But Shai Hope’s mighty six sealed victory with four balls to spare.
England fought well with the ball, Reece Topley impressing with 2-17 and Adil Rashid taking 2-21, but Hope’s crucial run-a-ball 43 not out proved the difference.
Playing on the same pitch on which they scored a record 267 in the fourth T20, the tourists’ timing was thrown off, with the surface offering more for the bowlers and West Indies’ attack showing much more consistency.
The in-form Phil Salt hit 38 but only Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali, with 28 and 23 respectively, also made telling contributions as England lost their last five wickets for just 11 runs.
The defeat completes a disappointing end to the year for England’s white-ball sides after a 2-1 series defeat in the one-day internationals that preceded the T20 leg of the tour, and the group-stage exit of the 50-over World Cup in November.
England’s batting falters in decider
After two magnificent batting displays to level the series from 2-0 down – chasing 223 in Grenada before the onslaught at this same venue – a third straight win proved a challenge too far for England.
The pitch played completely differently to Tuesday, though England opener Salt still showed signs of his touch and power before canny slow left-armer Gudakesh Motie got one to pitch on leg stump and rip out middle.
Salt’s dismissal left England 60-3 in the seventh over and they never really recovered, with many left batters left ruing some loose dismissals.
Captain Jos Buttler earlier miscued a ramp shot to short fine leg, Harry Brook was caught off a top edge when misting a sweep and Livingstone chipped one back to Motie just as he appeared to be setting himself for a counterattack.
Andre Russell rolled back the years in a masterful death bowling display, expertly mixing his variations to restrict England’s struggling lower order and remove Chris Woakes and Rehan Ahmed with consecutive deliveries.
While England’s bowlers also benefitted from the surface, West Indies were under little pressure with the luxury of knowing their target, and even as the tension rose in the 19th over, the victory never felt out of reach.
Hope exuded class and calmness throughout to anchor the chase, before launching Woakes over cover to finish the game and the series in style.
Questions remain for England’s World Cup defence
England will return to the West Indies and the United States in 2024 for the defence of their T20 World Cup title, which they won in Australia in 2022 under the leadership of Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott.
Since then, England’s white-ball fortunes have been mixed, with the last three months of 2023 particularly disappointed.
Their World Cup struggles in India were well-documented, but the two series defeats by West Indies – below England in the ICC rankings for both white-ball formats – has added further concern.
Fatigue is likely to be a factor after such a hectic 2023 that has included an Ashes and a World Cup but, given their next T20 assignment is not until May against Pakistan, Mott would have wanted to end the year with more clarity.
Salt has guaranteed his place after hitting 331 runs and two centuries in this series, while left-arm seamer Topley and experienced leg-spinner Rashid have been at their best.
The likes of Curran, Brook, Livingstone and Will Jacks all showed glimpses of their quality without starring, while Ahmed remains a prodigious but raw talent and seamer John Turner spent the entirety of the tour carrying the drinks.
Many of England’s players will get further T20 exposure in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but Mott’s task of naming his strongest XI remains a difficult one, while he will also have to wait to see if all-rounder Ben Stokes and fast bowler Jofra Archer are available after injury.
‘We will be better off for this experience’ – reaction
West Indies captain Rovman Powell on TNT Sports: “We are still a good bowling unit but in the previous two games the guys just didn’t execute. It was closer than we thought at the end.
“We kept losing key wickets but we always knew Shai Hope was going to be the important man on this pitch.”
England captain Jos Buttler: “The conditions were different from a few days ago with it being a used wicket. We probably didn’t manage to adapt quickly enough.
“I thought 160 would have been a decent score to defend. It was a fantastic bowling effort and we needed wickets to try to win the game.”
Player of the series, England opener Phil Salt: “It’s disappointing to come out on the wrong side of it. It was another good game of cricket and we took it as deep as we could.
“Shai Hope played a really good knock and we will be better off in the coming months for this experience.”