England v West Indies

At Southampton, September 29 (day/night). England won by nine wickets. Toss: England. One-day international debuts: T. K. Curran; S. W. Ambris.
There was a time, not long ago, when 288 would have been a competitive score in a 50-over game in England. Not any more. The ease with which Bairstow collected his second hundred of the series to wrap up a 4-0 win - and England's 16th victory in 17 completed games in the format against West Indies - made you wonder whether the latest finish to an international summer had really been worth it. England's bowlers had taken a little early punishment from Gayle, who struck Ball for 34 from six deliveries across two overs. But once he fell to a slower ball from Tom Curran, making his one-day international debut, the innings got stuck against England's spinners.

At one point, West Indies - led by Jason Mohammed after Jason Holder flew home to attend the funeral of an uncle - did not hit a boundary for nearly 22 overs. It was a bizarre lull which reduced the late hitting from debutant Sunil Ambris and Nurse to window dressing; Ball finished with one for 94, the third-most expensive one-day analysis for England. Bairstow and Roy again suggested they could work well together in the absence of Alex Hales. Roy carted 96 from 70 balls in an opening stand of 156 in 21 overs, and Bairstow carried on unperturbed, with Root for company. Peppering well-judged ones and twos with the odd four, they completed the job with 12 overs to go when Root launched Samuels straight for six, bringing up 4,000 ODI runs. Bairstow finished unbeaten on 141 from 114 balls, England's highest one-day score against West Indies, beating Marcus Trescothick's 130 in St Lucia in May 2004.
Man of the Match: J. M. Bairstow.