Massive Victory

A brilliant all-round bowling performance and a swift 94 off 69 balls from Evin Lewis led the West Indies to a massive eight-wicket victory under the DLS method due to heavy rainfall against England in the first ODI in Antigua.

Pacers Jayden Seales, Matthew Forde, and Alzarri Joseph each took two wickets, while spinner Gudakesh Motie took four, as they bowled out England for 209.

Chasing a revised target of 157 in 35 overs, the West Indies reached the amount in just 25.5 overs.

Lewis set the tone for the chase, hitting sixes off John Turner and Jofra Archer in the first ten overs. Brandon King supported, contributing boundaries that helped the West Indies reach 54-0 in the power-play.

Lewis reached his 46-ball fifty with five sixes, leading West Indies to 81-0 in 15 overs before rain interrupted again.

He continued to dominate by scoring freely off Adil Rashid and took the West Indies past the 100 mark with a number of fours and sixes.

King fell for 30, ending a 118-run opening partnership and Lewis departed on 94, just a few short of his century. Keacy Carty’s unbeaten 19 completed the chase to wrap up the win.

Earlier, England’s batters struggled from the beginning. Seales removed Phil Salt for 18 and Will Jacks for 19, while Forde took out Jordan Cox for 17 and Jacob Bethell for 27.

Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran stabilised the innings with a 72-run partnership, to push England to 165-4 by the 35th over.

However, Motie’s dismissal of Livingstone for 48 triggered an England collapse.

Motie dismissed Dan Mousley for 8 and Jamie Overton (0) off consecutive deliveries, and Curran fell shortly after for 37 as England slumped to 187-8.

Rashid and Archer took England past 200, but Joseph quickly wrapped up the innings at 209 in 45.1 overs.