West Indies defeated England in Group C of the T20 World Cup, with a dominant spin display proving decisive.
Sherfane Rutherford’s unbeaten 76 proved pivotal as West Indies posted 196, before England’s middle order collapse saw them bowled out for 166 in 19 overs.
Jos Buttler (21), Tom Banton (2), Jacob Bethell (33 off 23), captain Harry Brook (17) and Will Jacks (2) were all taken out at the hands of Gudakesh Motie (3‑33) and Roston Chase (2‑29), hindering England’s last chase.
Jos Buttler (21), Tom Banton (2), Jacob Bethell (33 off 23), captain Harry Brook (17) and Will Jacks (2) all fell to Gudakesh Motie (3-33) and Roston Chase (2-29), disrupting England’s chase.
Outstanding West Indies
“A little bit disappointing. It’s never nice to lose a game but the West Indies played outstandingly,” Brook told Sky Sports post match.
“Everybody knows how much power they’ve got and whenever you’re slightly off your line and length, they manage to hit it for six.
“We probably felt it was chaseable, for sure. It probably didn’t dew up as much as we expected and we thought we had a chance, definitely.”
READ MORE: Cricket news: Pakistan reverse boycott of T20 World Cup fixture against India
Confidence key for upcoming fixtures
“You have to be confident in this game,” the England captain said, looking ahead to key fixtures against Scotland and Italy
“We obviously thank God we won against Nepal the other night, otherwise we’d be in a tricky situation.
“We obviously play Scotland and Italy next. We’ve just got to go back to do our homework on them and go back to the basics and see how we go.”
Nasser Hussain: Spin is England’s Achilles heel
Former England captain and pundit Nasser Hussain gave his thoughts on England’s spin struggles, West Indies’ top performance, and the importance of the Scotland fixture.
“You have to give credit to how well the West Indies spinners bowled,” Hussain said.
“It is survival of the fittest nowadays in T20 cricket and adapting, because your match-up is never going to always be in your favour.
“You have to give West Indies credit, but I think if there is an Achilles heel, it is a playing of spin for England compared to how good they are at belting seamers.
‘Play freely’
“Look at the way again Phil Salt got them off to a flyer, so I think there is a discrepancy there, but I still think this is a very good England side,” the former England captain continued.
“With what’s happened now, there is a bit more jeopardy. When you go and play Scotland, if you’re almost through, you can go and play care-free cricket, but now you’ve got to win that game.”
England take on Scotland in Kolkata on Saturday, February 14, while West Indies go head-to-head with Nepal on Sunday, February 15 in Mumbai.
READ NEXT: England news: Manager Thomas Tuchel signs two-year contract extension
SportJustSport writers