NEW DELHI: Defending champions England overcame their early struggles in the Twenty20 World Cup by defeating the previously unbeaten West Indies by eight wickets in their Super Eight opener in St Lucia on Wednesday.
The English bowlers limited West Indies to 180-4 on the same pitch where the co-hosts had scored 218 against Afghanistan on Monday.
Opener
Phil Salt
then led the way with 87 from 47 balls as the batters completed the task within 18 overs.
Having narrowly advanced to the second stage based on net run rate, England will gain a significant boost of confidence from defeating one of the tournament's in-form teams.
They now sit atop Group 2 alongside South Africa, whom they will face at the same venue on Friday.
Much of the credit for the victory must go to the England bowlers, who prevented the powerful local batters from unleashing their full potential.
They delivered 51 dot balls and took regular wickets in the second half of the innings, ensuring that no West Indies batter reached a half-century.
Despite the loss of opener Brandon King to a groin injury on 23, West Indies remained confident of posting a big score, reaching 82 without loss at the halfway point of their innings.
However, just as they looked to accelerate, the other opener,
Johnson Charles
, fell into a trap and was caught in the deep off Moeen Ali's bowling for 38.
Key players
Nicholas Pooran
and skipper Rovman Powell both scored 36 before being dismissed in consecutive overs, followed by Andre Russell for one in the next over, leaving West Indies at 143-4 in the 17th over.
Sherfane Rutherford (28 not out) and Romario Shepherd added another 37 runs, but England believed the target was achievable, especially after Salt and Jos Buttler put on 67 for the first wicket.
Buttler was trapped in front by Roston Chase's off-spin for 25, but Salt maintained the scoring momentum before being joined by
Jonny Bairstow
.
Initially, Salt allowed Bairstow (48 not out) to take the strike, but he then smashed 30 off Shepherd in the 16th over with three sixes and three fours, effectively sealing the chase.
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