Published: Mar 03, 2017, 11:22 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 03, 2017, 11:34 PM (IST)
Riding on captain Eoin Morgan’s 10th One-Day International century, England posted a challenging total of 296 for the loss of 6 at the end of the 50 overs. Morgan (107 off 116) was well supported first by opener Sam Billings (52 off 56), then Ben Stokes (55 off 61) and lastly by Moeen Ali who remained unbeaten on 31 off 22 deliveries. West Indies got off to an excellent start getting wickets early on, but some vital partnerships saw the game taken away from the hosts. For West Indies camp, pacer Shannon Gabriel and spinner Ashley Nurse took 2 wickets each while Devendra Bishoo got 1. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD, West Indies vs England – 1st ODI
Put into bat first, England started off well. Opener Jason Roy looked comfortable since the very first ball and left no opportunity to punish bad deliveries. For West Indies, skipper Jason Holder and Gabriel started the proceedings and straightaway got enough pace and bounce, especially the latter. Billings, on the other hand, took his time to settle in. With Roy playing the aggressor’s role, Billings, who wasn’t timing the ball well, opted to play the second fiddle. Things looked going easy for England till the first 5 overs, but against the run of play, Gabriel got the wicket of Roy (13 off 22).
A back of length delivery, which was darted on stumps, did not bounce as much as Roy would have expected and was trapped in front of the stumps. England score read 23 for 1 when Joe Root walked in at No. 3 position. Root carried on with his superfluous form, getting off the mark the very first ball he faced. He kept on taking singles and looked easing into the game. But yet again, Gabriel uprooted Root’s woodwork. A fuller length delivery which was once again flashed at the stumps, kept low and before Root (4 off 5) could get his bat down, he had lost his wicket.
All of a sudden, England were put in a precarious situation early in this series opener. When Root departed, England’s score read 29 for 2. England skipper Morgan walked in at No. 4 and had a major responsibility of stabilising his team. Billings on the other end had seen two partners getting out in quick successions.
This was the time when Holder deployed spinner Nurse from one end and Carlos Brathwaite from the other. Brathwaite posed serious questions to Morgan immediately and forced the batsman to nick one out-swinging delivery which was spilled by wicketkeeper Shai Hope and Kieran Powell who was standing at first slip. Morgan was batting at just 4 when he was dropped.
But making the most of this dropped chance, both Billings and Morgan batted out the overs and scored runs dealing in 1s and 2s and making sure of dispatching the bad deliveries beyond the boundary rope eventually scoring a century.
Billings looked in great touch once he got going and made the most of his chance by scoring his 2nd ODI fifty. He looked all poised to get to a much bigger score but was deceived in pace by Nurse and Carlos Brathwaite took a sharp catch at short mid-wicket. This wicket also saw and abrupt end to a vital 67-run stand between Billings and Morgan.
Once Billings departed, Bishoo was brought into the attack by Holder. Bishoo straightaway got enough spin and bounce to his flighted deliveries which posed questions to Morgan. But the English skipper adjusted himself to Bishoo’s length quickly. Morgan took Bishoo to cleaners once he settled in forcing Holder to remove the spinner from attack.
But again Jos Buttler (14 off 19), who had walked in after Billings’ dismissal, walked back to the dressing room trying to up the ante. As Buttler walked away, in came Ben Stokes; who had a nightmarish outing against the hosts last time. But Stokes looked unperturbed with the ghosts from the past and batted sensibly.
Morgan led the attack with Stokes being the anchor. They started off dealing in singles and doubles. One they got a hang of the game, Stokes shifted his gears and belted the Caribbean bowlers. With the amount of power Stokes has he utilised the West Indian pacers’ speed perfectly to send the balls soaring over the boundary rope whenever possible getting to his 9th ODI fifty briskly. Morgan, on the other hand, kept scoring runs all around the park, whether in 1s and 2s or some cracking strokes down the ground.
Both Morgan and Stokes formed a firm base for English attack in the death overs of the innings. But just when it appeared like both had shifted themselves to their top gears, Holder got in spinner Bishoo. And as expected, Bishoo struck in his very first over and got the crucial wicket of Stokes (55 off 61). This was a much-needed wicket from West Indian perspective as Stokes and Morgan had added 110 runs for the 5th wicket off just 112 deliveries. Moeen Ali, who walked in after Stokes’ dismissal, took the attack straightaway against the hosts. He used his feet aptly against the wily spin of Bishoo to get going and managing boundaries or at least 3 runs on every ball he faced.
Amidst this, Morgan who was already on 94 hammered Carlos Brathwaite for a huge six over long-on to get to his 10th ODI century. There was a sense of relief of having the job done when he middled that delivery off Brathwaite. He did get out in softest of the manner in the last over but walked back to the dressing room amidst standing ovation for the wonderful job he had done for his team.
Brief scores:
England 296/6 in 50 overs (Sam Billings 52, Eoin Morgan 107, Ben Stokes 55; Shannon Gabriel 2 for 58, Ashley Nurse 2 for 57) vs West Indies
