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Whenever England and West Indies collide in a T20 World Cup, memories of that 2016 humdinger come rushing back. Stokes down on his haunches, Brathwaite roaring out of jubilation with his arms outstretched.
England have since embellished their cabinet with multiple white-ball world titles although West Indies have lost a bit of their aura as compared to their title-winning era. All of which brings us to an exciting Group C encounter.
A fumble from Holder but he recovers well and fires a throw on the full to Shamar Joseph right over the stumps, a desperate dive from Liam Dawson is not adequate. He was slow in turning and getting back for the brace. West Indies have won the thrilling clash as England fall short by 30 runs, with Rashid the last dismissal as the fielder at backward square-leg dives forward and has the fingers under the ball.
Superb stuff from Jason Holder, but that is a poor piece of cricket from Archer. A yorker on the right boot as Archer makes room to flick, misses, impact outside the leg-stump. Holder rushes forward, picks it up, turns around and hits bullseye at the base of middle-stump at the other end.
Was Archer struggling to sprint due to that blow on the boot or was he just casual over there? He has a disappointed expression on his face as he trudges off. West Indies are cock-a-hoop.
Jofra Archer knows it will be a full delivery so he shuffles across and gets under this overpitched tempter on leg-stump, scooped over short fine, one bounce over the ropes. Used the pace well on that occasion. England’s requirement under fifty now, in three overs.
Spin has been an integral feature of matches at Wankhede in this event and so it is proving as West Indies rip through the England line-up. Three reds and Jacks squanders a review. Chase is the beneficiary and England are losing the plot in the middle overs, with a well-judged catch at long-off removing Jamie Overton too.
Soft dismissal. This length delivery holds on the surface and grips a tad, Harry Brook is way too early into the push, sliver of turn away and the ball hits the meaty outer half of the bat and loops to the bowler’s left. Pouched with a dive.
Another scalp for Gudakesh Motie and he is ecstatic. It’s the nimble chinaman, slides on from the pitch, Bethell goes on the back foot to flick, beaten for pace; off-stump flattened. Now West Indies can really believe even though England have a lot of firepower still left. A sub out in place of Rutherford.
Tom Banton goes for a low score yet again. It’s tossed up full on middle, Banton attempts to drive and doesn’t keep it along the carpet. King moves to his right at cover and receives the ball. Motie leaps and punches the air in delight. That was hit half-heartedly. A hint of turn just before the ball met bat. West Indies right in the contest here.
Meanwhile, Bethell has begun his innings adroitly, looking composed and in firm control. He’s handled both pace and spin with assurance. If he maintains this proactive approach, a well-earned half-century appears only in a matter of time.
Caught by Rovman Powell at long-on! The change of angle does the trick. A flat length delivery on off, Jos Buttler shifts to the back foot to pull, but he doesn’t get the elevation and picks out Powell who reverse-cups. Key wicket, for Buttler is a dangerman.
Fifty up for England in the fifth over itself as Hosein leaks 14 runs in his third within the PowerPlay. Jacob Bethell has picked up from where Salt left after Romario Shepherd provided the much-needed breakthrough. Rutherford accepted the dolly at mid-off.
There was help for the new-ball merchants at the Wankhede Stadium, but the conditions seem to have eased now. That should please Salt and Buttler – both love the ball coming onto the bat. Don’t be surprised if England race past 60 in the PowerPlay! 24 in the second over itself, delivered by Holder. Three fours and a six.
Most expensive overs by a WI bowler in T20 WC
30 R Shepherd v Eng Gros Islet 2024
27 R Rampaul v Eng Providence 2010
25 A Russell v Aus Colombo RPS 2012
24 J Holder v Eng Wankhede 2026
Phil Salt and the shoulder-jiggling Jos Buttler are at the crease. Salt is on strike. Akeal Hosein will open the attack. Here we go, a boundary first ball. England are wasting little time.
West Indies post a competitive total after an innings that ebbed and flowed. They were rocked early in the powerplay, with Archer and Curran striking to remove both openers. Hetmyer responded with intent, taking the aggressive route, while Roston Chase provided stability, rotating strike and electing his moments to attack. Hetmyer’s ebullient cameo was cut short before the fielding restrictions ended, and Chase soon followed, perishing to Rashid after the PowerPlay.
With the innings at a crossroads, Rutherford stepped up. He found boundaries regularly and racked up a fluent half-century to wrest back momentum. At the death, Holder added the finishing touches. While there were handy contributions throughout, it was Rutherford’s gem of a knock that anchored the effort. For England, Rashid was the standout performer, returning miserly figures of 4-0-16-2 albeit he let Rutherford off a couple of times in the field and that may go on to have a decisive bearing on the game.
With Sherfane Rutherford in the groove and Jason Holder taking Sam Curran apart with three towering sixes, West Indies are charging towards what will be the first 200-plus total at the Wankhede in this tournament. The 17th over bowled by Sam Curran was quite expensive, and England aren’t doing themselves any favours by fielding poorly as Rashid lets his team down again, this time around dropping an absolute skier at mid-wicket. Got to take those at this level. Rashid did, however, continue to have the wood over Powell.
Adil Rashid vs Rovman Powell in T20s:
95 balls
104 runs
Four dismissals
Avg 26
SR 109.47
Tough chance and Rashid can’t hold. Full marks for the effort though. Back of a length and scything across, Rutherford swings for the fences and gets a thick leading edge. The ball flies to third man and Rashid looks to grasp it with one hand, but the ball pops out and lands on the advertising cushions. He wasn’t sure where the rope was and kept swirling around. Lucky break for Rutherford who is going at the rate of knots, fast approaching a fifty.
Back to back sixes from Sherfane Rutherford. Jacks was brought on because Rutherford is out in the middle, but the left-hander is taking him down in reality. 14 off the over and the West Indies players are cheering on from the dugout.
West Indies were three down inside the PowerPlay, but Rutherford has the game to counterattack. He’ll try and take on Dawson, Rashid and Jacks. If he gets set, he could well end up as West Indies’ top-scorer in this innings.
West Indies review! This looked rather adjacent to the stumps. Chase does not pick the wrong ‘un from Adil Rashid and is stuck in the crease, hit on the back pad. No bat as per UltraEdge. Ball-tracking shows it to be smashing into leg-stump.
He walks back for a well-compiled 34 and takes a review along with him as Rashid completes 400 T20 wickets. Second England bowler to the milestone after Chris Jordan – 446 wickets.
Drinks are on the field now. This is a decent beginning for England. They sent back the openers in the first 7 balls and have broken this budding partnership as well between Hetmyer and Chase with the dismissal of the latter owing to a miscued pull off a slowe bumper. West Indies need another rebuild, but they need to be mindful of the extra bounce that is certainly posing problems.
Moreover, of the six venues that hosted at least two games this tournament, Wankhede has offered the most turn with almost 12% of the deliveries turning more than 12%. The tweakers should come to the fore soon.
Woah, Chase has picked up steam. A sweep, an inside out loft, and another aerial stab through the off-side. England are not amused by the sudden acceleration, and Hetmyer’s six off the final ball of the over makes it a rich harvest of 19 runs. The PowerPlay seems to be ending on a high for the men in maroon after losing their openers cheaply.
Hetmyer getting a move on. He stays inside the line and glances the ball to the vacant fine leg region after producing a six when Curran tried to repeat the slower ball. Sat down on his back knee in typical Caribbean style and smoked the slog sweep over deep mid-wicket.
Archer does not quite get the length right – half volley outside off and Chase jumps at the opportunity. He gets a good stride forward and creams the drive through extra cover. Hetmyer kickstarted the over with a upper cut so a productive one for West Indies. Slip taken off as a result of those two boundaries.
West Indies have lost both their openers in a jiffy as Curran strikes with his first ball , from the other end. Not a wicket-taking delivery but full marks for the planning. They had a sweeper cover instead of deep backward point and King has located him perfectly. Generally teams have a deep point these days in the PowerPlay, but Curran had Salt near sweeper.
He angles the full delivery across, draws King into the big shot and the lofted drive just carries to Salt. He crouches down a wee bit and takes a low catch.
Archer has bowled 80 balls in T20 cricket to Hope and King combined. He has conceded only 41 runs off those, dismissing Hope once.
However, it’s not as economical a start as that statistic suggests with Archer conceding five wides in the opening salvo, but he managed to remove Hope to make amends for the profligacy.
Gone for a duck. This is a big wicket as the West Indies captain was one of their in-form batters. Short and ample amount of width, Hope nails the cut straight to cover-point, Banton didn’t have to budge and laps it safely.
Pitch and conditions: There’s a decent breeze around, which should offer the players some respite. In terms of dimensions, the pitch sits almost dead centre of the square. There’s very little difference square of the wicket – barely a metre, but straight down the ground, over the bowler’s head, it’s a full 75 metres.
Well, first and foremost, this is a fresh pitch. The first two games here were played on pitch number eight. In the opening match, it offered plenty to the seamers. In the second game against Nepal, the spinners managed to get significant turn. This one looks different. It’s fresh, with an even covering of grass. There are a few small bare patches, but overall, it looks a much better surface. That grass should help the ball come nicely onto the bat.
England’s selection reflects that assessment. They’ve brought in Jamie Overton, looking for someone who can hit the deck hard. Anything pitched up here has been driven and put away – Jofra Archer was taken on against Nepal. That’s why Overton comes in for Luke Wood – to bang it in and extract bounce. It looks an excellent batting surface. There’s quality spin on both sides, plenty of power in the line-ups, and this is a terrific cricket venue. All signs point to a cracking contest. – Nasser Hussain, Samuel Badree
