- By Himanshu Badola
- Sun, 10 Dec 2023 08:17 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
West Indies vs England: West Indies created history as they defeated England in a bilateral series at home after a long wait of 25 years, beating them 2-1 in the series.
The hosts clinched the series after they got the better of the Jos Buttler-led side in the third and final ODI, beating them by four wickets in a rain-affected match.
The Kensington Oval in Barbados witnessed a special moment as West Indies kicked off their fresh start in the ODI cricket in style.
West Indies' run chase was reduced to 34 overs due to multiple rain interruptions during the match and they needed 188 runs to win but they reached the target in 31.4 overs with four wickets in hand.
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Romario Shepherd once again played a match-winning knock and remained unbeaten on 41 runs in just 28 balls and also hit the winning runs, giving the visitors a heavy beating straight after their disappointing campaign at the ODI World Cup 2023 in India.
Keacy Carty was the top run-getter for West Indies as he scored 50 runs in 58 balls with Alick Athanaze also playing a 45-run inning.
West Indies were off to a poor start as the opener Brandon King departed for just one run but King and Carty recovered the innings brilliantly and added 76 runs for the second wicket.
For England, Will Jacks was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up three wickets for just 22 runs in his seven overs.
Gus Atkinson took two wickets but was a bit expensive as well, giving away 58 runs in just six overs whereas Rehan Ahmed also ended up taking a wicket as well.
Earlier, West Indies won the toss and opted to bowl first in the match that was first reduced to 43 overs per side due to a late start.
England were off to a disappointing start and lost half of their side for just 49 runs but Ben Duckett kept his cool and took the responsibility to bail hi steam out of trouble.
He stitched an 88-run partnership with Liam Livingstone (45) for the sixth wicket.
A few contributions from the lower order helped England reach 206/9 in their 40 overs. Matthew Forde bowled brilliantly on his ODI debut and ended up taking three wickets for just 29 runs in his eight overs.
He got brilliant support from Alzarri Joseph who also picked up three wickets with Romario taking two wickets as well.
Another spell of rain during the England innings reduced the match to 40 overs per side followed by another spell of rainfall making it 34 overs for the Windies to track down to 188.
Forde was adjudged as Player of the Match for his memorable bowling performance on debut whereas the skipper Shai Hope was adjudged as the Player of the Series as he was the top run-getter in the series with 192 runs to his name.
West Indies won the first match of the series by four wickets in Antigua but England managed to make it 1-1 with a six-wicket victory at the same venue.
Both teams will face off in a five-match T20I series which begins on Tuesday, December 12 with the first match set to be played in Barbados.