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• Matthew Mott: Change of format can rejuvenate Jos Buttler

  England head coach Matthew Mott suspects a switch from ODIs to T20s and a shift to the top of the order can get Jos Buttler firing on all cylinders again.

  Buttler’s World Cup hangover followed him to the Caribbean with two single-figure scores either side of a sparkling unbeaten fifty in a new-look England side’s 2-1 ODI series defeat by the West Indies.

  He was out for a golden duck in Saturday’s decider in Barbados, caught at fine-leg after an imprudent hook, bringing the England captain’s average down to a modest 18.09 in his last dozen innings.

  With ODIs on the back-burner till September, England can focus on building towards the T20 World Cup in June with a five-match series against the co-hosts, where Buttler will be in his usual opening role.

  “It’s always good when you lose a series to change the format, you move on pretty quickly,” Mott said ahead of the T20 series opener on Tuesday at the Kensington Oval.

  “Jos showed his class the other day and he may well, at the top of the order, come out and take the bowling on as he has done for for a number of years.”

  Will Jacks and Phil Salt have put on four opening stands of 50 or more in five ODIs, finding some fluency together in the manner predecessor Jason Roy did, first with Alex Hales then Jonny Bairstow.

  The pair’s success invites speculation as to whether England could persevere with the pair in T20s and move Buttler down to number three in a reshuffle, but Mott dismissed the notion out of hand.

  “Jos is a lock-in, definitely opening,” Mott said. “He’s proven over a very long period of time.

  “It will be just what he needs to get up the top and really boss the game from the start and I know for a fact he’s looking forward to it.”

  Mott’s position came under scrutiny after England’s shambolic World Cup and he has lost 18 ODIs in his tenure and won 16 – but five of those have been against non-Test playing Ireland and the Netherlands.

  A series defeat against a side that did not qualify for the World Cup was another low moment but the success of this tour might be judged on how the T20s pan out with a more experienced bunch of players.

  Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes and Tymal Mills are now in tow and, alongside Reece Topley, they trained in Bridgetown barely 12 hours after England’s rain-affected defeat at the same venue.

  The quintet give England more depth with the ball, while Mills and Topley are attractive options at the death after their pacemen struggled at the back end in the ODI defeats in Antigua and Barbados.

  On both occasions, England were in with a sniff of victory courtesy of their spinners – led by teenager Rehan Ahmed, who was described as “a bit of a revelation for us with the ball” on this tour by Mott.

  But Sam Curran was flayed and recorded the most expensive ODI figures by an England bowler in the opener while Gus Atkinson leaked 24 in an over when the Windies needed 33 in 24 balls in the finale.

  “We’ve got some really good (death bowling) options,” Mott added. “The guys getting an opportunity haven’t had a lot of opportunity in this format yet but I think they will be better for the experience.

  “Sam’s definitely a player that we really want to invest in. He hasn’t missed too often at the death for us. But he’s that type of bowler that wants the ball in his hand at the back end.

  “When you’ve got guys who want to do that, they’ll come out on top more often than they miss it as well.”

  Andrew Flintoff is due into Barbados on Sunday night and is scheduled to be at training on Monday as he rejoins England’s coaching set-up in a paid role as a team mentor.

• England lose ODI series as West Indies chase reduced target

  England battled hard, but their first ODI series since the World Cup debacle ended in defeat after the West Indies pinched a nail-biting decider in Barbados.

  Chasing a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern adjusted target of 188 in 34 overs after several rain interruptions, the Windies lurched from 99 for two to 135 for six following Will Jacks’ unlikely three wicket-haul.

  But after Jacks and Rehan Ahmed were bowled out, leaving the Windies requiring 33 off the last four overs, Romario Shepherd greeted returning quick Gus Atkinson with back-to-back sixes to turn the tide.

  Atkinson leaked 24 from the over and Shepherd ushered the Windies to a four-wicket win, with 14 balls to spare, with a belligerent 41 not out off 28 balls alongside debutant Matthew Forde (13no).

  Forde earlier took three for 29 as England stumbled to 49 for five, with captain Jos Buttler out for a golden duck after an ill-judged hook at Alzarri Joseph took a top edge and ballooned to the fine leg fielder.

  Ben Duckett’s classy 71 off 73 balls, putting on 88 with Liam Livingstone (45), dug England out of a hole and was the backbone of their 206 for nine in 40 overs, with the lower order adding some grit.

  A 2-1 loss in their first assignment is hardly the start Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott would have wanted in this reset post-World Cup, but a top-order collapse left them with a mountain to climb after they were asked to bat first when play belatedly got under way following a two-hour rain delay.

  England’s openers had made four successive partnerships of 50 or more, but were separated in the first over as Phil Salt’s lame chip just about carried to Joseph.

  Forde’s day got better when Zak Crawley shaped to leave but the ball reared up off a length, thudded into his glove and looped into the slips.

  The rookie’s only misstep occurred with a misfield on the boundary after Duckett’s meaty pull, giving the left-hander the first of three fours in an over but Forde atoned in his next over, hitting a nagging length and finding a bit of shape to take the edge of Jacks.

  Matters deteriorated even further in the 10th over for England as Joseph’s direct hit ran out a diving Harry Brook while Buttler’s rush of blood to his first delivery left them five down.

  England have endured some epic collapses in the Caribbean down the years and this briefly threatened to be added to an ignominious list, but Duckett and Livingstone stabilised the tourists.

  Duckett was especially impressive, strong on his favoured cuts and pulls off the back foot but he eschewed his customary sweeps to the spinners until he had adjusted to an unpredictable pitch.

  After going past 50, the left-hander then Livingstone upped the ante, each hammering sixes off Joseph but both perished when they were too early on balls holding up in the pitch. Duckett got a leading edge to short midwicket while in Shepherd’s next over, Livingstone miscued to mid-on.

  After a 45-minute rain delay which led to England’s innings being reduced from 43 to 40 overs, last-wicket duo Atkinson and Matthew Potts got them above 200 with an unbroken stand of 35 off 29 balls.

  Another downpour took more overs out of the game and meant a revised target, with England making a breakthrough after eight deliveries when Brandon King punched Atkinson to Jacks on the ring.

  While Sam Curran found lavish movement and Potts, in for the unwell Brydon Carse, was tidy, there were no further inroads as Buttler turned to Ahmed in the ninth over. The leg-spinner was greeted with a glancing cut by Alick Athanaze before ending his over being driven for another four by Carty.

  Ahmed clipped Athanaze’s off-stump without dislodging the bails, tricking England into a review for caught behind, before Atkinson returned to pin the left-handed opener lbw five short of his 50.

  After Shai Hope tamely chipped Ahmed’s googly to midwicket, Buttler opted for spin at both ends on an increasingly wearing pitch where prodigious turn was on offer.

  Jacks capitalised as Shimron Hetmyer lobbed to point while Sherfane Rutherford holed out. Carty, who had dropped two simple catches when the Windies fielded, made a crucial 50 but gave Jacks a return catch.

  Jacks drew the edge of Shepherd two balls later but the ball whistled away for four while the Windies big-hitter threw his hands at Ahmed to alleviate some of the building pressure.

  Buttler opted to turn to Atkinson after Ahmed and Jacks bowed out but the paceman delivered two full tosses which were dispatched over the rope, the first following a fumble by Livingstone.

  There was no coming back from that for England and Shepherd sealed victory in Livingstone’s next over with a slog sweep for four.

• West Indies claim first home ODI series win over England since 1998 with four-wicket win via DLS method in third ODI

  The West Indies claimed their first home ODI series win over England since 1998 with a four-wicket win via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in the decisive third ODI at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.

  In a match eventually reduced to 40 overs per side after rain interruptions before and during the match, England recovered from a horrific first ten overs to post 206-9 from their 40 overs after being put in to bat by West Indian skipper Shai Hope.

  Debutant Matthew Forde got proceedings off to the best possible start for the West Indies with the wicket of Phil Salt for just four at the end of the first over.

  Not long after, Forde was at it again, picking up the wickets of Zak Crawley (0) and Will Jacks (17) to leave England struggling at 45-3 at the start of the ninth over.

  45-3 became 48-4 in the 10^th over when Alzarri Joseph brilliantly ran out Harry Brook off his own bowling for one.

  England captain Jos Buttler, fresh off a half-century in the last game, lasted only one ball on Saturday.

  Joseph greeted Buttler with a well-directed short ball that he was unable to control, helping the ball out to Gudakesh Motie on the deep square leg boundary for a simple catch to leave England 49-5 after 10 overs of the rain-shortened 43 overs per side contest.

  An 88-run sixth wicket partnership between Ben Duckett and Liam Livingstone provided some stability to the English effort before Duckett fell for a well-played 73-ball 71 in the 26^th over. His knock included six fours and one six.

  Livingstone was next to go two overs later, caught by Sherfane Rutherford at mid-on off the bowling of Romario Shepherd for 45 to leave England 142-7.

  

  With England 161-7 off 33 overs, the rains came once again. Soon after the restart, England lost their eighth wicket when Rehan Ahmed fell caught behind off the bowling of Alzarri Joseph for 15 to leave the score 166-8 in the 34^th over.

  Joseph picked up his third wicket when he had Sam Curran caught on the point boundary by Gudakesh Motie for 12 to leave England 171-9 in the 36^th over.

  In the end, a 35-run 10^th wicket partnership between Gus Atkinson (20*) and Matthew Potts (15*) helped England reach 206-9.

  Forde ended with 3-29 from his eight overs while Joseph was expensive, going for 61 from his eight overs with three wickets to his name.

  A third rain delay during the innings break meant the West Indies had a revised target of 188 from 34 overs.

  The chase got off to the worst possible start when Brandon King was caught at cover off the bowling of Gus Atkinson for just one in the second over.

  Alick Athanaze and Keacy Carty then put together a solid 76-run second wicket partnership that ended when Atkinson trapped Athanaze in front for a 51-ball 45 in the 14^th over.

  Captain Shai Hope was next to go, caught brilliantly by Matthew Potts off the bowling of Rehan Ahmed for 15 to leave the West Indies 99-3 in the 17^th over.

  Then, with the West Indies cruising needing 72 from 78 balls, Shimron Hetmyer mistimed a ball straight into the hands of Phil Salt at point for 11 off the bowling of Will Jacks.

  The West Indies quickly lost another one when Sherfane Rutherford held out to Zak Crawley at long on off Jacks’ bowling for three to leave the score at 122-5 after 23.2 overs leaving the hosts needing 66 runs from 64 balls.

  Carty, two balls after bringing up an excellent half century, became Jacks’ third victim in quick succession caught and bowled to leave the West Indies 135-6 needing 53 runs from 50 balls.

  The 31^st proved to be the ultimate game changer for the West Indies. The over bowled by Gus Atkinson went for 24 to leave them needing just nine more to win from the final three overs.

  In the end, Romario Shepherd (41*) and Matthew Forde (13*) steered the West Indies to 191-6 off 31.4 overs to seal the 2-1 series win.

  Will Jacks tried his best for England with 3-22 from his seven overs while Gus Atkinson ended with 2058 from his six overs.

  Full Scores:

  England 206-9 off 40 overs (Ben Duckett 71, Liam Livingston 45, Matthew Forde 3-29, Alzarri Joseph 3-61, Romario Shepherd 2-50)

  West Indies 191-6 off 31.4 overs (Keacy Carty 50, Alick Athanaze 45, Romario Shepherd 41*, Will Jacks 3-22, Gus Atkinson 2-58)