Shai Hope
's resilient unbeaten knock of 43 guided West Indies to a hard-fought four-wicket triumph over
England
, securing a 3-2 victory in the Twenty20 series decider.
In a tense showdown, England was dismissed for 132, and although West Indies struggled to find their rhythm, Hope anchored their response. He ultimately sealed the win with a commanding six over extra-cover on the second ball of the final over.
This victory marks West Indies' third consecutive T20 international series win in 2023 as they gear up to host the World Cup for the shortest format in June.
The conclusion of the mini-tour proved disappointing for Jos Buttler's England, who had earlier lost the 50-over series in the Caribbean 2-1.
In contrast to Tuesday's high-scoring game, where England set a team-record of 267, the low-scoring nature of this contest favored the bowlers, allowing West Indies to build on their T20I series victories over South Africa and India.
The Brian Lara Academy surface provided assistance to spinners, and Gudakesh Motie, a slow left-armer, capitalized by claiming three wickets for 24 runs in his four overs. Akeal Hosein, another left-arm orthodox spinner for West Indies, contributed with two wickets for 20 runs in his four overs, helping restrict England to their lowest target in the series.
England's innings witnessed Buttler's early dismissal for 11, followed by Jacks and the crucial wicket of Phil Salt (38) falling to the spin duo of Hosein and Motie. Despite brief threats from Liam Livingston and Moeen Ali, West Indies bowled out England with three balls remaining.
West Indies' reply started strongly with 20 runs off the first two overs, but England's bowlers struck back with wickets of Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran. However, Sherfane Rutherford's partnership with Hope stabilized the innings, with England applying late pressure.
In the penultimate over, Sam Curran's excellent performance produced the removal of Andre Russell as the English pacer conceded just two runs, leaving West Indies needing nine off the final over. A crucial inside edge from Holder and a powerful shot from Hope secured the victory, delighting the home crowd.
"We kept on losing wickets at key times but we always knew that Shai Hope was going to be an important man on this wicket," said Powell.
"We realized this wasn't a wicket that offered a lot of shots but if we have someone in the middle order who can get to 40 off 35 balls, that would serve us as batting group well," he added.
Buttler mentioned that England suffered the consequences for attempting to impose themselves with early aggressive shots in their innings.
"We probably didn't quite manage to adapt quickly enough. I thought 160 would have been a decent score to try and defend. (Then) we needed wickets to try to win the game and I thought we did well to hang in as long as we did," he said.
"If we would have had a few more runs to play with, we could have put a bit more pressure on the opposition but I thought it was a really good effort with the ball," he added.
English (US) ·