England has the chance to avenge its loss in the Test series when it takes on West Indies in the fifth ODI here on Saturday, but it will have to work around the opposition's marauding opening batsman.
Chris Gayle
Castries:
Gayle's six-laden 97-ball 162 not only threatened to scale down England's mountainous 418/6, but also posed another potential series loss on the visitors. Now in the lead, England will look to make the most of it, and get one back on the hosts, who beat them 2-1 in the Tests.
For that, England will have to work around Gayle. The opening batsman has two centuries and a fifty in three matches and crossed 10,000 ODI runs in the third ODI – only the second West Indies played to do that after Brian Lara. "We needed wickets all the time, because we felt that if Gayle batted long enough they'd win the game, which is incredible when you've got 420 on the board," Buttler said after the fourth ODI.
But Gayle wasn't the only one who impressed for West Indies. Darren Bravo hit four fours and as many sixes in his 59-ball 61, and Carlos Brathwaite blasted 50 off just 36 balls. In a chase of 419, however, these efforts proved insufficient.
The credit for this must go to Rashid who dismissed all of Jason Holder, Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo and Oshane Thomas, the last four coming in one over – the 48th, when England need 32 runs with four wickets in hand – to choke Windies towards the end.
"Being able to spin the ball both ways, he (Rashid) is tough to get after. We juggled the bowlers well, and for Adil to bowl an over like that at that time was special," Buttler said of the leg-spinner. So the West Indies needs good bowling to level the series.
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
More than 800 runs were scored at St George's the other day, with three centuries across the two sides in a game of 100 overs. It took Jos Buttler's 150, captain Eoin Morgan's 103, and Adil Rashid's five-wicket haul to get England a crucial lead in the series, but when Chris Gayle was at the crease, all results were possible.
Gayle's six-laden 97-ball 162 not only threatened to scale down England's mountainous 418/6, but also posed another potential series loss on the visitors. Now in the lead, England will look to make the most of it, and get one back on the hosts, who beat them 2-1 in the Tests.
For that, England will have to work around Gayle. The opening batsman has two centuries and a fifty in three matches and crossed 10,000 ODI runs in the third ODI – only the second West Indies played to do that after Brian Lara. "We needed wickets all the time, because we felt that if Gayle batted long enough they'd win the game, which is incredible when you've got 420 on the board," Buttler said after the fourth ODI.
But Gayle wasn't the only one who impressed for West Indies. Darren Bravo hit four fours and as many sixes in his 59-ball 61, and Carlos Brathwaite blasted 50 off just 36 balls. In a chase of 419, however, these efforts proved insufficient.
The credit for this must go to Rashid who dismissed all of Jason Holder, Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo and Oshane Thomas, the last four coming in one over – the 48th, when England need 32 runs with four wickets in hand – to choke Windies towards the end.
"Being able to spin the ball both ways, he (Rashid) is tough to get after. We juggled the bowlers well, and for Adil to bowl an over like that at that time was special," Buttler said of the leg-spinner. So the West Indies needs good bowling to level the series.
Squads
Windies:
Jason Holder (c), Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, John Campbell, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite, Nicholas Pooran, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Andre Russell
Jason Holder (c), Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, John Campbell, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite, Nicholas Pooran, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Andre Russell
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood