World Cup: England restricts West Indies to 212, bags an easy win

England clinched an easy victory against West Indies on Friday (June 14) in their fourth game of the tournament and grabbed the second position on the points’ table.

West Indies batsmen were all back to the pavillion putting up a total of 212 runs in 44.4 overs, conceding a cakewalk to the English team. England won the match by eight wickets.

The two teams share a traditional rivalry which was on display earlier this year in a five-match series. The series saw Chris Gayle notch up two centuries and a half-century against England. His quickest score in the series was a quick 162 runs off 97 balls, with 14 sixes.

Also read: ICC World Cup: Will rain let England take on West Indies?

England, for their part, rejoiced the return of Jos Buttler after he was dropped due to a hip injury he suffered during a match against Bangladesh. Buttler has been in a good form this world Cup, scoring 103 runs against Pakistan in Nottingham.

England has suffered only one loss in its previous five ODIs and they won their previous match against Bangladesh by a massive 106 runs.

Player of the Match 🤝 Entertainer of the Match pic.twitter.com/Kx9lCp9KqC

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 14, 2019

West Indies, however, had been facing a tough time getting in stride. The only win for the team so far has been a seven-wicket slammer against Pakistan. Their match against South Africa at Southampton was called off due to rain.

Friday’s match was crucial for both the teams. Joe Root putting on a brilliant show steered the English team to a magnificent win.

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Mark Wood was declared fit and England retained their playing XI. Meanwhile, West Indies brought in Evin Lewis, Russell and Shannon Gabriel in their playing XI.

England Captain Eoin Morgan elected to bowl first after winning the toss.

Right-arm pacer Chris Woakes gave his team a good start with a maiden first over. He came back to take the early wicket of Evin Lewis who departed for only 2 runs. The ball speeded into the off stump after brushing Evin’s pads.

It was a disheartening wicket for Indies. Woakes continued to prove expensive for the opponents and delivered another controlled maiden over.

Chris Gayle made a comeback for his team with two back-to-back boundaries off Jofra Archer. England dropped an expensive catch in the form of Gayle as he tried for a swing across the line to a length delivery but got an outside edge. The ball flew to third man Wood, who let it slide out of his hands. Chris Woakes looked rightly tormented by the slip.

England opener Jason Roy pulled a hamstring and looked to be in apparent discomfort. James Vince came in to field in his spite.

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Gayle made England regret dropping his catch and sent Archer for quite a few boundaries. He even hit the economical Woakes for a boundary and a six. Shai Hope, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling against the England bowling.

The Hope and Gayle partnership was starting to look good for the West Indies side when Liam Plunkett went short and Gayle ended up conceding another catch, and this time it wasn’t dropped.

The bad news for the Windies didn’t end there. Wood got Shai Hope in a wicket that was, at first, ruled as not out. England judiciously used their review here and the call was reversed to out.

England looked set to steal the match away from West Indies.

Hetmyer and Pooran came in with the pressure of stabilising a stumbling Indies innings. For a while, they looked up to the task, managing to take a 50 run stand.

West Indies reached 100 runs with Hetmyer’s boundary. He continued to perform well and sent two back-to-back boundaries sailing. This looked to be the kind of innings the team needed. West Indies stood at 130/3 after 26 overs.

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In a surprising turn of events, Joe Root replaced bowler Ben Stokes. His first ball looked like a hit wicket but it was just Buttler who had nudged the bails.

It would not be a disappointing day for Joe Root though. He broke the evolving Indies partnership when he dismissed Hetmyer for 39 off 48 balls. He struck again with a caught and bowled to remove Jason Holder for 9 runs off 10 balls.

Pooran completed his maiden ODI half century from 56 balls as Andre Russell came in next. Russell played his natural game sending the ball soaring for sixes. Mark Wood didn’t let Russell settle in and sent him back to the pavilion for 21. Pooran played a steady inning, ensuring his team reached the 200 milestone.

England faced another injury scare as skipper Eoin Morgan looked to be limping. England bowling seemed to get everything right as Jofra Archer got rid of Pooran next. It was a crucial wicket for England and their use of review proved to be the right call to take.

Archer’s reign of terror continued as he dismissed Cottrell for duck next. England wasted a review trying to get Thomas but the replay showed that he hadn’t edged it. Archer chips away Carlos Brathwaite for 14 and Mark Wood ended the innings with the wicket of Shannon Gabriel for 0.

An easy target

England was set a target of 213 to chase.

Joe Root, who picked two wickets with his bowling spell, opened the innings for England with Jonny Bairstow. Jason Roy had suffered a hamstring injury earlier in the game.

The openers got England off to a good start with 40 for no loss in just six overs. It was a solid start to the innings. West Indies seemed to be in crucial need of a wicket.

Root and Bairstow looked strong as they completed a 50-run partnership, which was their third 50+ against West Indies in ODI matches.

Shannon Gabriel took an important wicket in the form of Johnny Bairstow who was knocked off at 45. The damage was already done though as England sat comfortably at 95/1.

England seemed to be mixing things up on Friday, with Root bowling and then Waokes coming in to bat at number 3. The duo played a safe and sensible innings as is prudent because England was snugly on its way to victory at 160/1 with just 53 runs needed from 25 overs.

West Indies managed to pick the wicket of Chris Woakes at 40 but it was a little too late for them to save the match with England needing just 14 runs to win.

Joe Root went on to complete his 16th ODI 100 and the third in a World Cup innings. With this 100, he became the second English batsman to score two tons in a World Cup.