Duckett, Smith lead England to second sweep against West Indies

England completed their white-ball rout of West Indies at the Utilita Bowl on Tuesday, underlining their dominance by securing a 37-run victory in the third T20I.

Capping off back-to-back 3-0 series wins for Harry Brook's first assignments as limited-overs captain - England's first in T20Is since 2021, against Sri Lanka - was a vast margin that began with a mammoth 248 for 3, having been put in to bat by Shai Hope. Ben Duckett's 84, which began alongside 60 from Jamie Smith - a maiden half-century in the format - set the platform with 120 inside nine overs.

With the help of a series of cameos, including an eye-catching 36 not out from Jacob Bethell, England were able to post their second-highest score in the format, and highest at home.

In reply, West Indies embarked on an unconvincing pursuit of a record chase. Hope's presumption at the toss that this pitch would stay consistent throughout did bear out to a point. His side registered 14 sixes to England's 15, four of them from West Indies' former T20 captain Rovman Powell, who hit his tenth fifty-plus score with a 45-ball 79 not out.

With West Indies reaching 211 for 8, a new aggregate record for a T20I in England was set. The match also put England 19-18 in front on the historical head-to-head between the two sides, the first time they have led that metric.

Duckett's third T20I half-century, off 20 deliveries, gave him the neat record of the fourth-fastest by an Englishman. A handy gong for a player who might rank as one of England's best multi-format openers.

That is not too grand a statement. If anything, maybe the "one of" qualifier can be dropped. Duckett's reliability across codes since re-establishing himself in all three formats is remarkable. This year alone - upon returning to the shortest format in India - he has been a banker, offering varying degrees of intent. Though he did miss out on ticking each century box in the space of ten innings - a sequence beginning with 165 against Australia in the Champions Trophy, along with last month's Test 140 against Zimbabwe - this new career-best T20I score underlined the calibre of batter he has become.

Six deliveries into the match, a reverse-slap-shot over the covers off Akeal Hosein set the tone. The No. 2 T20I bowler in the world did not earn that ranking by doubting himself in the powerplay. But in the very next over, the left-arm spinner, having shifted his field to put two square out of the ring to cope with Duckett's orthodox and reverse sweeps, was unpicking those plans as the left-hand batter adjusted to strike down the ground and either side of the man out at square leg. That included a remarkable strike for six behind square off a delivery seemingly too full and wide of off stump to be worked in that direction with any malice, never mind over the sponge.

Hosein is not the first quality operator to be undone by Duckett's invention or clarity, and he likely won't be the last this summer. And in keeping with filling his team-mates with confidence, the 30-year old has clearly helped Smith settle in his new role as a limited-overs opener, with Smith pocketing maiden half-centuries in both formats in the last seven days.

There was a stage in Eoin Morgan's captaincy when his England teams had developed such a ruthless streak that he could afford to rest himself from time to time. The biggest flex of this confidence came when he sat out a T20I series decider against South Africa in 2017. Amid a flurry of criticism, England won pretty comfortably. As deep as England's talent was - Alex Hales replaced Morgan in that XI - the machine had learned to win in a variety of situations. Even without their skipper.

It'll take some time for England to rediscover that, well, arrogance or even re-establish that reputation as an imposing white-ball force. But those seeds that flourished during that 2015-19 cycle were sown early by doing as England did here tonight. With cold, calculating talk from their skipper - "we want to start nailing teams down into the ground" - as he revealed an unchanged team, followed by an equally merciless performance.

In truth, England did not need to be as good as they were to beat this iteration of West Indies. That they ensured they were, right to the very end, suggests they are on the right track. Not necessarily towards world domination, but to making winning second nature.

Has there been a more demoralising 48 hours in West Indian cricket? A series defeat confirmed with a game to spare on Sunday, followed by a one-sided defeat in Southampton that bookended this England tour with eye-watering defeats, after a 238-run pasting in the first ODI.

It was in between these defeats, on Monday, that Nicholas Pooran announced a shock retirement. One of the game's leading lights, and a great hope of Caribbean cricket, calling time at the age of 29. A tour that began with the caveat that some of West Indies' missing stars would be back soon enough has ended with the brightest seemingly gone for good.

Even if West Indies had bested England comprehensively, Pooran's loss would have felt just as bleak ahead of next year's T20 World Cup. But off the back of these three defeats, it is clear the once kings of this format are losing their domain. The last fortnight has shown West Indies are no longer a progressive T20 outfit. That they out-sixed England 35 to 32 while being dominated highlights a shift in how this format is played.

Given the World Cup is only eight months away, starting again is probably not the way to go. But with Pooran no longer around to paper over the cracks, a quick fix is needed.