West Indies beat England to win fifth and final men’s Twenty20 – live! | Sport

A fantastic win for West Indies in a game that went down to the wire – until Jason Holder grabbed the match by the scruff on the neck in the final over with four for four!

Four in four and the match! Brilliant from the big man, who bowls Mahmood, inching off the bail, and it takes a couple of seconds before West Indies realise!

Hat-trick!!! It’s Rashid’s turn to go for the heave-ho and this time Smith cradles the baby at deep square leg.

And again! Billings gets down on one knee to slog-sweep but sends it more high than wide and Walsh is the man again!

Another victim of the short boundary! A huge slog into the hands of Walsh just a few yards in from the fence.

19th over: England 161-6 ( Billings 41, Jordan 7) England need 20 off six balls!! Cottrell gets the penultimate over, and he’s clever: he goes full, a quick yorker follows. A full toss thuds into Billings’ pads as he tries to sweep, England take two leg byes but West Indies call for a review for lbw – NOT OUT. The second beamer of the match slips out, and, as with Saqib Mahmood, the free hit is a dud.

Briefly:

Tanya,

One of the results of WFH is that casual wear in the office (i.e. non-ironed) is becoming more acceotable nowadays. Way back in the mid-1990s I recall plenty of Leeds-based bankers and executives rolling up to work without a tie! Strange, but true. The trend accelarated thenceforth and there’s no stopping it now.

John Starbuck

18th over: England 152-6 ( Billings 36, Jordan 6) England need 28 off 12 balls It’s the gleaming Smith to try and hold England back with just three overs to go. But Billings is up for the challenge. He clubs six over backward square leg, then just evades the fielder with a top-edged slog-sweep. Then SIX MORE as he goes bigger over midwicket, where Allen amazingly gets his hands to the ball but carries it over. Jordan joins in with a four through square leg.

17th over: England 132-6 ( Billings 21, Jordan 2) England need 48 off 18 balls More spin, and more frustration for England. But Billings gets low and swings him for four through the leg side.

16th over: England 124-6 ( Billings 15, Jordan 1) Brilliant from Hosein, who finishes with 4-30 from his four overs. Billings throws the bat but the oil hasn’t yet percolated to the engine.

Charges down the pitch, smears the outside edge and Pooran whips off the bails!

15th over: England 119-5 ( Billings 11, Salt 3) Allen: scampered singles, a no-ball, a free-hit – which is a dot.

14th over: England 114-5 ( Billings 8, Salt 1) Can the new boys bring it home? What a chance for them, but West Indies spinners doing exactly what England’s did and stalling the scoring.

“Evening-ish Tanya,” Hello there Tone White!
“I’m imagining that it’s the English girls team playing, and feeling very relaxed about the result.
Can’t wait for Heather Vince to get her ton.
Thanks in advance for sharing the win!”

Sorry Tone, I was a touch too slow on that email…

A top-edged slog-sweep flies towards the short boundary but it doesn’t have the flight and Allen takes him safely. This time Hosein mimes making a cup of tea! Three for him and the England stutter is in full flow.

13th over: England 111-4 (Vince 55, Billings 6) Clever slow left arm from Allen, Vince and Billings dib and dab and rotate the strike but can’t get him to the rope.

“Hi Tanya,Id just like to point out that there is an alternative approach to ironing.When my son began at secondary school he wanted his school clothes ironed. So I bought an iron and ironing board, then explained the process. He went with it – exclusively for school clothes – while becoming skilled enough for county level age group cricket. I’m not sure there was a causal link though.”

Nice work Geoff Wignall! Were his creases sharp enough to please a prowling Ted Dexter?

I must add that I know that being a lazy slob isn’t possible for people who actually have to leave the house to do their job.

12th over: England 98-4 (Vince 51, Billings 1) Vince’s second IT20 fifty in a career of thwarted elan. He reaches it with a pull low-bodied pull for four and follows up with a cut off the back foot for four more.

A flat-footed chip to backward point, and Smith says thanks very much. Hosein celebrates by limping down the wicket.

11th over: England 88-3 (Vince 44, Livingstone 6) Holder steady away, but Livingstone dinks his last ball behind to the rope.

“Not sure I can stand the tension. Even stevens at half way, England reliant on two talented perennial under-achievers in Mo & Vince….

Will spend the next hour hiding behind the sofa just like watching Dr Who back in the 70’s….”

Only one to trouble you now Charles Sheldrick in Deepest darkest Devon.

The first ball after drinks! Mo tonks a slower ball but with the lack of timing that has haunted him all innings.

10th over: England 86-2 (Vince 42, Moeen Ali 14) At the half way stage, it’s anyone’s game. Vince drives Smith through mid-on for a delicate boundary – 94 needed from the next ten. Where’s your money? They take drinks.

9th over: England 76-2 (Vince 36, Moeen Ali 10) Pollard lumbers in with his own brand of more-than-dibbly-dobblies. Moeen sends one delicately to backward point but it is scotched before the rope. Pollard helps England along with a couple of wides.

Another email wings through the storm, from Ian Copestake“If Vince’s new glass ceiling is 34 rather than 18 then it could be taken as progress. Hope it smashes it though.”

8th over: England 69-2 (Vince 34, Moeen Ali 7) Middle over penury approaching? Seven squeezed off Shepherd’s over, nice running between the wickets but no boundaries.

7th over: England 62-2 (Vince 32, Moeen Ali 3) Vince sends Pollard’s loosener through the covers. Dreamy. Moeen faces the last four balls but can only pick up the single. But he had a similarly slow start yesterday.

“Hello Tanya,” Hello Timothy Sanders. “ I need to iron school uniform tonight, so I’ve been working on some cricket data. Rashid’s bowling figures for the series: 20 overs, 115 runs, 7 wickets. The average return over twenty overs from the rest of the attack is 187 runs and 4.1 wickets.”

Thank you for that! But may I advise ditching the iron. It does leave the family permanently creased but as long as you train them young, it’s fine. The iron is always in the cellar if anyone fancies it.

6th over: England 56-2 (Vince 27, Moeen Ali 2) Smith, gleaming with sweat, powers in, and England can’t get him to the rope. My daughter walks in chewing a naan: “that bowler is tanked” At the end of the power play it is even-stevens, West Indies were 58-o .

“Following your gair observations about what James Vince can do (gorgeous strokes one minute, nicking off the next) I just hope he doesn’t do another of those things that James Vince does and gets out for an attractive but ultimately frustrating and inconsequential 30…”

Tom vd Gucht, James Vince would never do anything like that.

5th over: England 48-2 (Vince 24, Moeen Ali 1) Cottrell bounds in, but Vince is in the mood. Lights a cigar and fires him through backward point and behind square.

“Im being dim,” asks Peter in Selsey, “who bowled the final over?” Apologies Peter, it was Chris Jordan.

4th over: England 41-2 (Vince 14, Moeen Ali 1) A bit of a dogs-breakfast behind the stumps and Banton appears to be dropped, the very next he picks Smith off his toe caps and flicks him 90 m into the roof of a temporary tents. Then the wicket, which brings in Moeen Ali who is immediately dropped by Holder after edging an absolute snorter from Smith.

Don’t try to pull the ball over Jason Holder’s head! Banton doesn’t make the contact he wants to and the ball flies high and safely over Holder’s shoulder and into the bread basket.

3rd over: England 27-1 (Banton 5, Vince 14) Four dots from Cottrell builds the pressure on Banton but he pulls the fifth past an amusingly bad bit of fielding at mid-on for four.

2nd over: England 27-1 (Banton 5, Vince 14) Gorge-ous from James Vince, driving Holder straight for six and holding the pose just in case you don’t know what James Vince can do. A flash at a wide one flies through where the slips might have been – another fine example of what JAmes Vince can do. Banton sends Holder through fine leg for another boundary and 17 runs come off his first over.

1st over: England 10-1 (Banton 0, Vince 2) Roy clubs Hosein over mid-off first ball, cuts with a dash in front of square before the unlucky dobble from bat to pad to Pooran’s gloves.

Roy shakes his head in disbelief as a bottom edge squirts up into the legside and Pooran darts forward, dives, and gathers with both hands.