- By Himanshu Badola
- Thu, 07 Dec 2023 08:06 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
West Indies vs England 2nd ODI: Jos Buttler-led England bounced back in the series against West Indies as they picked up a six-wicket victory in the second ODI match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound in Antigua on Wednesday, December 6.
Harry Brook and skipper Buttler made sure of no more hiccups as they put up a match-winning 90-run partnership for the fifth wicket and took their team to victory in the 33rd over to make it 1-1 in the three-match series.
Phil Salt and Will Jacks were off to a promising start as they put up a 50-run opening stand while chasing the target of 203 runs.
While Salt was dismissed for 21 runs by Romario Shepherd in the sixth over, Jacks kept going and went on to score a half-century.
Zak Crawley (3) and Ben Duckett (3) departed cheaply before Jacks added 30 more runs with Brook for the fourth wicket and was dismissed soon for 73 runs by Sherfane Rutherford in the 20th over.
Brook was joined by Buttler as the duo got some runs under their belt and provided the team their first win of the series to force the result onto the decider.
Earlier the visitors put up a remarkable bowling performance to bowl the Shai Hope-led side for just 202 runs in 39.4 overs.
Skipper Hope, who was the star performer in the first match, was also the top scorer for his team with 68 runs in as many balls.
The hosts were off to a horrible start after they were put into bat first and lost four wickets for just 23 runs on the board.
Hope was joined by Rutherford and both the batters bailed the team out of trouble and added 129 runs for the fifth wicket.
Both the batters scored their respective half-centuries before Liam Livingstone struck with his golden arm and broke the partnership.
Livingstone dismissed Rutherford for 63 runs in the 30th over and soon got Hope as well for 68 runs as England triggered a collapse with West Indies putting up a disappointing performance with the bat.
Sam Curran was the pick of the bowlers for England as he picked up three wickets for just 33 runs in seven overs with Livingstone also taking as many wickets.
Curran was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his bowling performance as he was the one who provided his team a breathtaking start with the ball by dismissing three of the first five batters of West Indies.
They got promising support from Gus Atkinson and Rehan Ahmed who ended up taking two wickets each as well.
West Indies had won the first match by four wickets in the first match at the same venue but England's victory in the second match leveled the things 1-1 with a game to go in the series.
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The third and final match of the series is scheduled to be played at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown in Barbados on Saturday, December 9.