Sam Curran fell short in his attempt at atonement with the bat as England were left with a mountain to climb after the West Indies moved 2-0 ahead in their T20 series.
Thumped for 30 in his second and last over by a rampant Rovman Powell, whose 50 off 28 balls propelled the Windies to 176 for seven, Curran was elevated several places to four in England’s batting order.
He made 50 himself – with four fours and three sixes – before succumbing to a catch on the boundary from his 32nd ball and England settled for 166 for seven to lose by 10 runs on a hot day in Grenada.
Adil Rashid did not concede a single boundary as he collected figures of 4-0-11-2, while Tymal Mills was impressive at the death but England’s pace options lacked a cutting edge and Rehan Ahmed was expensive as the Windies racked up 13 sixes, five of them from opener Brandon King, who made an unbeaten 82.
England had their moments with the bat, most notably as Curran defied a previous T20 average of 11 from 26 innings, but some of their more-established stars were loose at inopportune moments.
Alzarri Joseph took three for 39 and slow left-armer Gudakesh Motie conceded nine from his allotment on a sluggish pitch to leave England needing to prevail in all three remaining T20s to win the series.
It has been a forgettable few days for Jos Buttler after their World Cup group-stage exit and ODI series loss to these opponents, although the England captain returned to a venue where he make a sensational 150 on his last visit four years ago.
However, he made five this time before charging at left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein and fluffing to short cover.
Jason Holder was taken the distance by Phil Salt, while Will Jacks clubbed three fours in an over off Andre Russell as England came out of the powerplay with 51 before Motie pegged them back.
He conceded just four from his first two overs and Joseph capitalised as England’s ODI openers looked to attack him. Salt departed for 25 and Jacks for 24, the pair tempted to swing into the wind after Joseph dangled the carrot of banging the ball halfway down the pitch.
Liam Livingstone put some pressure back on the Windies by pulling and driving Russell for fours before crashing a six for a third-successive boundary, while Curran got in the act, clearing deep midwicket.
But Livingstone could not resist going after Motie – in his final over – and was caught on the boundary, while Harry Brook also perished to spin off Hosein as England were left needing 67 from 30 balls.
Curran cleared the straight boundary off both Joseph and Russell, who followed up his star showing in the Windies’ win in Barbados by leaking 66 off four overs here.
But after bringing up a maiden T20 fifty, Curran skewed Joseph to deep point, effectively ending England’s hopes.
While the returning Moeen Ali – in for Ben Duckett in England’s only line-up change – made 22 not out, the tourists were left with too much to do after requiring 27 in six balls.
A quiet start to the Windies’ innings after England fielded upon winning the toss was punctuated when King belted the returning Moeen for two sixes in an over but a 43-run opening stand ended as Kyle Mayers miscued Chris Woakes’ slower ball up to a backtracking Curran.
It was the start of the Windies losing four wickets in 17 balls as Woakes held on to a skier when Nicholas Pooran looked to take down Rashid, who had Shimron Hetmyer well caught by Moeen at slip.
Either side of Rashid’s double breakthrough, Ahmed castled Shai Hope with a sharp-turning googly.
No risks were taken against Rashid which left the Windies on 101 for four when he was bowled out with five overs left and Powell, on a run-a-ball 22, took matters into his own hands when Curran came back.
An inside edge for four was a streaky beginning but there was nothing fortunate in the way Powell then picked off Curran’s slower, length deliveries, including one baseball-style swing over long-off.
Jacqueline Williams, who became the first female umpire from the Caribbean to stand in a men’s T20 international, raised her arms skywards four times in total but Curran got a measure of revenge as Powell holed out from the final delivery of the over after bringing up a 27-ball fifty.
King tucked into Ahmed’s final offering but Mills dragged it back, conceding a combined 15 in the 18th and 20th overs and snaring Russell and Holder with the last two balls.
Narine, Hinds on the losing end of court ruling regarding bar rental
Trinidad and Tobago cricketers Sunil Narine and Terrence Hinds have found themselves on the losing side of a court ruling and are now left to fork up just over $60,000 after a business arrangement with a former landlord went sideways.
Justice Ricky Rahim ordered Narine and Hinds to compensate Dave Kangal for a breach of contract after they rented a bar from the claimant at Oropune Gardens in Piarco.
Though Narine’s role in the issue is unfortunate as he was merely rendering financial assistance to Hinds in the business venture, the judge could not ignore the fact that he was also named as a tenant on the agreement dated July 1, 2020.
Interestingly, it was the players that first took Kangal to court, citing a breach of a tenancy contract, before the landlord counterclaimed and won. As such, Narine and Hinds will have to pay $62,246.90 plus interest as outstanding rent, as well as a half of Kangal’s legal fees.
According to Trinidad Express, the judge, in his written ruling delivered on Thursday, found that the two were actually owing Kangal $130,500 in unpaid rent. However, the figure was reduced as the court also found that Narine and Hinds were to be reimbursed $68,263.10 for renovations and improvements to the bar.
Hinds contended that $100,000 was actually spent on renovations and improvements, but he was unable to present some of the receipts to support his claim.
“The chips must lie where they fall. On the other hand, the court was taken aback by the tenor of the dealings between Terrance and Anna (Hinds' sister) on one hand and the defendant on the other,” the judge shared.
“There is a strong inference that they sought to take advantage of the apparent lack of understanding and naivete to a certain extent of the defendant to his disadvantage and to their benefit,” he added.
Mooney's 43* guides Australia to win over Sri Lanka
Australia produced a strong showing as they defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to get the defense of their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup crown off to the best possible start.
Sri Lanka chose to bat first in Sharjah but struggled to 93 for seven, with Nilakshika Silva top scoring with an unbeaten 29.
Australia showed it was not easy going for either team but could rely on Beth Mooney, who battled through the energy-sapping sun to make 43 not out and see her team home with 5.4 overs to spare.
Sri Lanka needed a positive start against the world number one side, who put the squeeze on from the outset - with 10 balls passing until the first run was scored and Vishmi Gunaratne departing for a duck.
Captain, Chamari Athapaththu soon followed for just three as Australia successfully reviewed an LBW decision with Ashleigh Gardner claiming her first wicket.
Sri Lanka’s first boundary came as Harshitha Samarawickrama took advantage of a free hit with a four after Australia’s third no ball of the innings.
Australia made some unwanted history with a record fifth no ball as Darcie Brown's first over cost 12, taking Sri Lanka to 23 for two at the end of the powerplay. They regained control when Sophie Molineux picked up their third LBW wicket of the innings and Sri Lanka lost the second of their two reviews.
Samarawickrama helped push the score to 43 for three at the halfway stage and was reprieved on 20 as Brown put down a catch as she slid in from extra cover.
The wicketkeeper made only three more runs however, as Molineux got her second wicket with a simple caught and bowled on an impressive return to the World Cup stage after injury trouble.
Silva provided some resistance without improving the scoring rate, finishing on 29 not out from 40 balls.
Her 34-run partnership with Anushka Sanjeewani was ended by Megan Schutt, who took two wickets in two balls to tie Shabnim Ismail for the most T20 World Cup wickets with 43 as Sri Lanka posted 93 for seven.
Australia lost captain Alyssa Healy in the opening over of the reply as she was clean bowled by Udeshika Prabodhani.
The gamble to promote Georgia Wareham up the order did not pay off as she was run out thanks to smart fielding from Kavisha Dilhari to leave Australia at 14 for two.
It was left to the uber-calm Mooney to steer the chase and she steered Australia to 62 for three at the halfway stage alongside Gardner.
The partnership was eventually broken at 43 as Gardner skied a shot that Samarawickrama gladly gobbled up, but it only postponed the inevitable.
Mooney ended on 43 not out, as she picked up where she left off in World Cup cricket, having been named Player of the Final in 2023 for her 78 not out in their victory.
Australia too continued their winning form at World Cups with a 12th victory in a row to triumph by six wickets.
Scores in brief
Australia v Sri Lanka at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Sri Lanka 93/7 in 20 overs (Nilakshika Silva 29 not out, Harshitha Samarawickrama 23; Megan Schutt 3/12, Sophie Molineux 2/20)
Australia 94/4 in 14.2 overs (Beth Mooney 43 not out, Ellyse Perry 17; Sugandika Kumari 1/16, Udeshika Prabodani 1/19)
Result: Australia won by six wickets
Matthews hopeful Windies can bounce back against Scotland on Sunday
After an undesirable start to their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign, West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews is hopeful that her team can turn around their fortune and possibly challenge for a spot in the semi-final.
Matthews’ optimism follows their 10-wicket hammering by South Africa in their opening fixture in Dubai on Friday.
In that contest, Matthews believes her team failed to properly acclimatize to the conditions, as they mustered a meagre 118 for six in their 20 overs. South Africa, led by half-centuries from Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits, then made light work of the target at 119 without loss in 17.5 overs.
However, with Scotland being the Caribbean side’s next assignment on Sunday morning, Matthews says they will have to pick up the pieces and bounce back.
“Obviously a pretty disappointing game (against South Africa). Firstly, not scoring enough runs on the board, and we would have liked to have taken a few wickets and at least put up a bit more of a fight in the second innings,” Matthews said.
“But with a game in two days’ time, we’re going to have to get things back together quickly and pick up the pieces and go again,” she added.
Reflecting on the outcome against South Africa, Matthews felt her team was undone by challenging conditions.
“It’s pretty hot here in Dubai. I’d probably have to say the hottest place I’ve ever played cricket or even been, and that’s someone coming from the West Indies. It’s definitely been some difficult conditions. We’ve been here for about two weeks, thankfully, and we’ve been able to acclimatise as much as we possibly can to conditions like this,” Matthews shared.
She continued: “I think we came down here expecting some pretty good wickets. We’ve camped here quite a bit when we went to Pakistan in April, and we tend to spend some time down here training, so we knew what the ICC Academy grounds were like, and those were pretty decent wickets early.
“It wasn’t a bad wicket. South Africa showed you can really bat on a wicket like that and even us in parts. Stafanie Taylor was able to take charge of the game as well throughout the middle. I don’t think the conditions surprised us too much. We probably just didn’t adapt to them as well.”
Matthews also addressed concerns surrounding Zaida James, who was hit in the face, and Taylor, who appeared to be cramping and had difficulty running between the wickets.
“For Zaida, it was pretty much just a knock on her face. I think the seam might have hit her in the face, so she was in a bit of discomfort. There’s a bit of swelling around her jaw, but she’s a tough girl, so hopefully it’s just one of those knocks that you get on the field, and hopefully she’ll be able to be out on the field for the next match,” Matthews noted.
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