The third One-Day International in Barbados saw the West Indies defeated England by four wickets, securing a much-needed 2-1 series win. They hadn’t won a 50-over match against England since 2007. The English, for their part, were desperate for a win to get over their disastrous World Cup title defence. Not only did West Indies lose the qualifier and miss out on India, but they also triumphed in a bilateral match for the first time in over 2.5 years in opposition to a Full Member country.
Rain caused a two-hour delay in the start of the match and disrupted England’s innings, which started as a 43-over match but ended up being a 40-over one. All in all, it was an extremely painful match. After another delay, the tourists managed to score 206 for 9, leaving West Indies needing to score 188 from 34 overs—a target they met with 14 balls remaining.
In the eyes of his home crowd, debutant Matthew Forde got things going by taking 3 for 29 and reducing England to 49 for 5 in 10 overs. Following making 16 and ducking in his first two knockouts of the series, Keacy Carty then displayed class with a second career half-century. Romario Shepherd then replicated his 28-ball came from Antigua, achieving an undefeated 41 this time.
It was another setback for England as well as Jos Buttler, who was lost the decision to bat and came back a first-ball duck in what has been a terrifying winter for the ODI setup. That being said, Will Jacks’ outstanding performance of 3 for 22 made them favourites going into the final stretch. Through 73 in the second ODI, the Surrey opener contributed to tying the series and appeared to be making a difference with his offspin. Despite not being used on the field in the opening game, he managed to produce career-best list of figures.
Both teams were expected to have a chance to secure a series victory in Barbados following their shared victories in both of the opening exchanges in Antigua. After dealing with lineups that remained the same for the first two ODIs, each XI saw a single adjustment. Brydon Carse’s illness forced England to make an early decision, handing Matthew Potts, his Durham teammate, his fourth ODI cap. But the West Indies made a calculated decision to substitute Forde for Oshane Thomas in the rotation.
Taking advantage of the extra life in the pitch and the moisture in the air, the 21-year-old required just 25 balls to take his first three wickets and make it a day to remember. Forde, who was bowling first in just his 13th List A match, rewarded Shai Hope’s faith by getting rid of Phil Salt for his first-ever wicket at the end of the first over.
During the next over, England’s situation turned from dire to hilarious. When Harry Brook tipped and ran for an ambitious single, Joseph was drafted into the attack for the tenth over. He was able to field his second shipment into the leg side before chucking the non-striker’s end stumps. After two balls, Buttler headed off for the golden duck after he had top-edged a short ball that Joseph had directed well to Gudakesh Motie at fine leg.
And with it arrived an all too familiar feeling of English dread. As brilliantly as Forde had started, the state of affairs was eerily similar to the different chaotic situations England had encountered throughout the twenty-third World Cup, albeit with a few fresh faces.
Ben Duckett was one of the ones new faces that started the rebuilding. Even in the midst of a slump at the other end, he was a captivating presence at the crease, having entered the game in the third over with England only two down.
He and Liam Livingstone began to pass the time, confident that Forde’s six overs meant they wouldn’t be seeing him for some time. With relative ease, they dismissed the spinners Yannic and Motie Cariah, the latter of whom steered Duckett to his fourth fifty-plus score in an ODI from fifty-six deliveries.
In the 22nd over, which was bowled by Joseph, the two traded sixes to score 17. The first of the time, Duckett’s, was over fine leg, and Livingstone then heaved over midwicket. The tide appeared to be turning, especially on 31 while Carty shelled a simple high capture out at a deep square leg following a needless hack across the line, giving Livingstone a life sentence.
The Lancashire all-around player ought to have learned from that. But when he attempted to clear the straight-away boundary, he dropped on 45 to an even more severe shot, clothing to mid-on. Duckett’s remarkable resistance came to an end when he unintentionally prodded to midwicket, making his dismissal all the more painful, especially with the sixth wicket standing at 88 balls.
After 33 overs, with the score at 161 for 7, thanks to runs from Sam Curran and Rehan Ahmed, additional rain cut off three more overs, leaving the tail to contribute. Joseph benefited when Curran skewed a shorter, less rapid delivery out to Motie at deeply third after Rehan scuffed an upward delivery through to Hope. However, Atkinson and Potts managed to reach 206 with 35 undefeated runs between them. If Potts had not chipped to Carty at cover for his following catch of the innings, they might have had to get settled for 190.
Throughout the lengthy inning break and in his work with the ball, Atkinson carried that responsibility. He struck with his second delivery, as Brandon King crushed a drive that found Jacks at cover. Then, Athanaze and Carty embarked on a 76-run run-a-ball stand that appeared to ease the pain of the chase.
Athanaze was right back in the grooves that enabled him to strum an elegant 66 in the initial ODI, driving all that overpitched as well as dealing with thrives that hit boundaries using the leg side. You wondered if Rehan’s googly would see things towards the end when it passed the edge and cut away stump through to His gloves lacking displacing a bail.
Unfortunately, he would only add one more run before being yorked by Atkinson’s for 44, setting off a four-wicket fall apart for just 44. Following turning Rehan to Potts’s at midwicket, Hope, the only the centurion of the series following his first heroics in an ODI, was dismissed for just fifteen runs. Sherfane Rutherford was caught at long-on by Shimron Hetmyer after he cut erect to point off Jacks.
The pressure was on Shepherd, the new batter, as the needed rate edged above six an over. At first, Carty was the star of the show; he brought up fifty years of revenue from 56 deliveries. After two balls, Carty moved the focus to Shepherd by dancing down and bunting an additional catch to Jacks for the third wicket. And he fulfilled it.
His first six came off Rehan with a towering strike that barely cleared Crawley, England at long range. At the beginning of Atkinson’s sixth over, the most costly of the game at twenty-four, numbers 2 and 3 came in consecutive deliveries off full tosses. With just nine required from the remaining eighteen deliveries, Forde scored his first boundary with a flick within the corner, and Shepherd completed the scoring with a forceful straight strike all the way around the ground.
They would come in after four valid deliveries, helped by five wide from Livingston, and Shepherd would seal the moment of splendour with a superb wash for his sixth and ultimate boundary.
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