BRIDGETOWN: England overcame a late-order rally by Romario Shepherd and Akeal Hosein to beat the West Indies by just one run in the second T20 International here on Sunday.

The West Indies appeared down and out when they needed 61 runs from the final three overs to reach a target of 172, with only two wickets standing.

But from 111 for eight, Shepherd and Hosein, who both made 44 not out in an unbroken stand of 72, almost denied England the win that levelled the five-match series at 1-1.

Chris Jordan and Saqib Mahmood were repeatedly hit for boundaries, although the recalled Reece Topley conceded just eight runs in the 19th over.

West Indies, who had slumped to 65 for seven, needed 30 to win off the last over, bowled by Mahmood.

The paceman started the over with a wide and was lucky not to be called again with his next delivery.

England captain Eoin Morgan was pleased by the way a team, without several T20 regulars, clung on to victory.

“I was delighted and even with the last quarter, with a relatively inexperienced international side, those are the games you want to play in,” he said.

But Pollard was proud of the fight shown by his side.

“I can see the confidence with the guys in the changing room,” he said. “We will have days like this but my thing is the fight that the guys continue to show.”

England were bowled out for just 103 on Saturday as the West Indies cruised to a nine-wicket win.

But it was a different story when the teams returned to the Kensington Oval a day later, with England making 171 for eight featuring opener Jason Roy’s 45.

England off-spinner Moeen Ali then took format-best figures of three for 24 after leg-spinner Adil Rashid removed both Pollard and Darren Bravo.

Moeen was named player-of-the-match after also making 31 with the bat, with Barbados-born Jordan’s 27 helping England to a competitive total.

Recalled left-arm quick Reece Topley had reduced the West Indies to six for two by having Brandon King, who made an unbeaten fifty on Saturday, lbw for a duck and running out fellow opener Shai Hope.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND: Jason Roy c Pollard b Shepherd 45 Tom Banton c & b Allen 25 James Vince b Allen 4 Moeen Ali c Cottrell b Pollard 31 Sam Billings c Cottrell b Hosein 5 Eoin Morgan c King b Holder 13 Chris Jordan c Holder b Cottrell 27 Liam Dawson c Allen b Holder 4 Adil Rashid not out 2 Saqib Mahmood not out 7 EXTRAS (W-8) 8 TOTAL (for 8 wickets, 20 overs) 171 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-36 (Banton), 2-40 (Vince), 3-101 (Roy), 4-114 (Ali), 5-116 (Billings), 6-147 (Morgan), 7-162 (Jordan), 8-164 (Dawson) DID NOT BAT: Reece Topley BOWLING: Cottrell 3-0-23-1 (1w); Holder 4-0-25-2 (2w); Hosein 3-0-15-1; Allen 4-0-50-2; Pollard 4-0-32-1 (4w); Shepherd 2-0-26-1 (1w)

WEST INDIES: Brandon King lbw Topley 0 Shai Hope Run Out Topley 2 Nicholas Pooran c Vince b Moeen 24 Darren Bravo lbw Rashid 23 Kieron Pollard lbw Rashid 1 Jason Holder c&b Moeen 1 Romario Shepherd not out 44 Odean Smith c Vince b Moeen 7 Fabian Allen c Banton b Jordan 12 Akeal Hosein not out 44 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3, W-5) 12 TOTAL (for 8 wickets, 20 overs) 170 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-3 (King), 2-6 (Hope), 3-47 (Pooran), 4-50 (Pollard), 5-55 (Bravo), 6-57 (Holder), 7-65 (Smith), 8-98 (Allen) DID NOT BAT: Sheldon Cottrell BOWLING: Topley 4-0-18-1 (1w); Saqib 4-0-45-0 (2w); Jordan 3-0-39-1 (1w); Rashid 4-1-24-2; Moeen 4-0-24-3; Dawson 1-0-13-0 RESULT: England win by one run. MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Moeen Ali SERIES: Five-match series level at 1-1. UMPIRES: Joel Wilson, Nigel Duguid (both West Indies) TV UMPIRE: Gregory Brathwaite (West Indies) MATCH REFEREE: Richie Richardson (West Indies)

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2022