and that is that. Pollard bangs it short outside off, gets it up above shoulder height, but at his pace Buttler can still adjust to get on top of the bounce and smack a pull to beat long leg to his left
8.41pm Two low-scoring games to start the tournament proper. We'll wait and see if it stays that way over the next few weeks. Tomorrow, of course, is a big, big day, when we'll see those two great Asian rivals, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, face off. There's another game too, but I forget who's playing it. Anyway, do join us for those matches, as I'm sure you will. Until then, goodbye!
Eoin Morgan: It's as good as it gets. To start our campaign like that, all credit to our bowling unit. The guys were very disciplined, and we took our chances. I think Moeen Ali read the conditions beautifully, he took chances when his match-up was in his favour, and to take his opportunity like he has, after the success he's had in the IPL was brilliant. I'm delighted for Big T. He's had an unfortunate journey at times, but he's now as good as I've ever seen him, especially with his fitness. We were [thinking of NRR, and held back Malan], we wanted guys to go after the bowling, but that was difficult today on that pitch."
Kieron Pollard: "It was unacceptable, we accept that. These sorts of games sometimes, we just need to bin it. For us, it's just a matter of finding our straps. We haven't batted well in our three games so far. We went out, guys tried to play their shots, and it didn't come off. I don't think any sort of panic will come into our camp. It is what it is, we just need to take it on our chest and move on, this is international sport. Obviously, we play a lot of cricket around the world, and this is not the first time something like this has happened. We've played cricket around the world, and we have the experience of games like this. Getting an opportunity because of the injury to Fabian Allen. Everything happens for a reason, and Akeal Hosein showed us what he can do."
Moeen Ali is the Player of the Match: "A catch like that gives you a bit of confidence, I think it settled my nerves a bit," he says of his superbly judged effort at mid-off to send back Evin Lewis. "They do have a lot of left-handers at the top, so I knew I would be bowling early on. The role at CSK is very important for me, it feels like I'm always involved with bat and ball and on the field too, and it was the perfect preparation coming into the World Cup."
We agree with the player-of-the-match jury today. Moeen was our MVP too.
Paul Walters : "Still 14 wickets fell and seems like the spinners will profit in this tournament."
Anshul Goel: "Adil Rashid took 4 wickets but why Moenn Ali gets PoM? " -- Moeen bowled the key spell in the powerplay. By the time Rashid came on, West Indies were already six down.
SUJIT: "Both CSK players are MoM today!"
Badar: "Imagine if tomorrow's high voltage game turns out to be a similar one sided affair, how many people will be disappointed."
8.24pm A thumping win for England to begin their campaign, and a bit of a damp squib as far as a repeat of the 2016 final was concerned. England have a net run rate of 3.970 at this point, and West Indies the minus version of the same number. This means they might have a bit of an uphill task to make it out of this group now, but those calculations are still a while away. One thing is clear, though: if the pitches remain like this, West Indies might start thinking about tempering their approach with the bat, just a little.
short slower ball outside off, and Buttler brings his wrists into a fierce chop that sends sweeper cover sprawling to his left to stop it
Pollard brings himself on.
Right, this has been fun - but time for KK to apply the finishing touches. Cheerio!
finishes with a quick bumper, Morgan pulls and misses - vociferous appeal from behind the stumps but the umpire isn't interested
short ball again, tapped down this time
swung leg side, did Walsh get fingertips to that? I think he did, but he was flying, a brilliant effort from the substitute fielder at deep backward square - the boundary brings up England's 50 and brings them within touching distance of victory
goes full with pace off, I think, dinked wide of extra cover for another single
dug in short and Morgan rides it, tucked to midwicket
Win predictor - being a total square - still has England at 99.5%
shortish, angling across and Buttler runs it away behind square
McCoy again, just 13 needed
pushed through at 93kph/58mph, Morgan tucks to leg - Hosein is finished for the night, finishing with a very creditable 2 for 24
Short mid-on now
round the wicket and cut for another single to the man at deep point
"No offense. But it will be interesting to see the win predictor. xD" Let me check, SRD
tossed up full, clipped to long-on
Pollard it still at silly point
dragged down slightly and slapped through point, there's a sweeper out there
over the wicket, lobbed up on off, Morgan prods it through mid-on
Morgan comes out next. Matt has confirmed with England that there is no injury to Malan, just a tactical move
Hosein takes a stunner! Leading edge from Livingstone, but it was travelling... only for Hosein to leap across and snag the ball one-handed to his left. There's some discussion between the umpires, Aleem Dar wants to be sure that Hosein didn't ground the ball as he came down - but the soft signal is out. Chris Brown, the TV umpire, is taking several looks at this, but he's eventually satisfied. Don't think you could prove his fingers weren't underneath the ball as he put his hand down
Hosein is going to do a Moeen and finish his allocation early. Slip and silly point in, Pollard under the helmet
England win the Powerplay battle, 39 for 3 compared to 31 for 4. Shaping up to be a close contest. Ahem
another slower delivery on the pads, nudged to midwicket
short ball in the channel, Livingstone plays a no-nonsense dab past backward point
pace off again, 105kph/65mph up towards the blockhole, Buttler drags a slog leg side to the sweeper
Free hit coming
Buttler looks to move across and scoop, McCoy responds with a slow full toss that the batter misses... but he's been pinged for a front-foot no-ball in the process
length ball on middle and leg, pace off at 119kph and tucked leg side
Liam Livingstone in now. Still no Malan!
mix-up and Moeen is a long way from home... Buttler declined the run with his partner three-quarters of the way down and although McCoy had to collect the throw from short third and relay it into the stumps, Moeen looks short. Yes, gone! Tried to scramble back but isn't quick enough and England lose their third in the Powerplay (and you all know what that stat means)
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
2W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W |
Dubai International Cricket Stadium | |
Toss | England, elected to field first |
Series | |
Season | 2021/22 |
Player Of The Match | |
Match number | T20I no. 1354 |
Match days | 23 October 2021 - night (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee | |
Points | England 2, West Indies 0 |
Over 9 • ENG 56/4
England won by 6 wickets (with 70 balls remaining)