England Young Lions

After winning the toss and electing to bat, West Indies scored 230 all out from their 50 overs thanks to Nandu, who was the top scorer with 80 from 120 balls faced. He struck nine fours. He lost his opening partner Anderson Amurdan, who failed to score and then Teddy Bishop for 12 as the West Indies got off to a poor start at 25-2.

However, Nandu and Ackeem Auguste mounted a recovery with a stand of 78 before the latter was dismissed by Rehan Ahmed for 25.

The loss of two additional wickets – Justin Beckford and Giovonte Depeiza - for just four runs saw the West Indies slip from 103-2 to 107-5 and in danger of collapsing. However, Nandu and Carlon Bowen-Tuckett staged another recovery with a 55-run sixth-wicket partnership that was broken when he was dismissed by Sonny Baker.

Tuckett and Johan Layne (16) put on 25 for the seventh wicket and then 19 more with Isai Thorne (6) before being ninth out for a well-played 48 from 94 balls faced.

Baker finished with 4-41 and Ahmed 3-30. Nathan Bramwell took 2-37.

Needing 231 for a fifth victory in the series, England Young Lions enjoyed a solid start between George Thomas and James Rew. The pair had put on 52 when Nandu bowled Rew for 28. At 64-1, Singh dismissed Alex Horton for 10 and then 27 runs later had Thomas stumped for 38 as England reached 91 for 3 in the 20^th over.

England slipped further to 105-5 as Layne dismissed Daniel Ibrahim for 6 and Singh picked up his third wicket when he removed James Coles for 9.

However, Ahmed’s obdurate unbeaten 68 kept England in the hunt but they kept losing wickets at the other end as Nandu dismissed Thomas Aspinwall for 1 and Singh removed Fateh Singh for 13 as England reached 165-8 in over number 38.

Andel Gordon dismissed Barnwell for 1 and then ran out Baker for 3 as the West Indies closed out the match with their pride intact.

Singh returned figures of 4-51 while Nando had figures of 2-35.

Set a target of 240, Bishop showcased his tremendous skills with the bat as well as powers of concentration as well as his ability to cope with the pressure to make 133 as West Indies scored 241-8 off 47 overs to win by two wickets with three overs to spare.

He faced 117 balls and hit 20 fours to control the run chase. His century came off just 85 balls and included 15 fours, and he carried on until he was the seventh wicket to fall with the score at 227 – with the West Indies just 13 away from victory.

“It feels really great and most important a win for the team. This innings is really special for me … my first century for the West Indies. It’s important to get a win for the team. The bowlers did really well for us in the morning, so the batters had to make sure we backed it up,” the young batsman said afterwards.

“The plan was to keep ticking it along to hit the gaps and to keep my partners in the game and keep talking to them. We can take a lot away from this game with this win. We were two-nil down so now we got a great win today and we are back in the series.”

Bishop shared a crucial partnership of 73 with vice-captain Giovonte Depeiza for the fifth wicket which took the score from 118-4 to 191-5 before Depeiza was run out for a patient 21 off 51 balls. 

This was Bishop’s second top-class knock in a row, as he followed up the equally brilliant 97 not out from 104 balls in a narrow one-wicket loss on Monday.

The result was set up by the West Indies bowlers who were disciplined after England won the toss and chose to bat. Left-arm seamer Nathan Edward came in for his first match and grabbed two early wickets, while left-arm spinner Anderson Mahase (2-42) and pacer McKenny Clarke (2-52) maintained the pressure.

George Bell top-scored with 44 for the Young Lions who also got contributions of 41 from Thomas Aspinwall and William Luxton who scored 27.

The series will now switch to the Polo Field in Canterbury for the next three matches. The first ball on Friday is 10:30 am (5:30 am Eastern Caribbean Time/4:30 am Jamaica Time).