England’s hopes of a 5-0 thrashing of the West Indies ended as the hosts both bounced and stuttered to a five-wicket win in the fourth T20 international in St Lucia.
Shai Hope (54 off 24) and Evin Lewis (68 off 30) put on 136 for the first wicket off 55 balls to help the hosts reach a target of 219 with 6 balls to spare after Jacob Bethel’s 22nd ball brought up his half-century. England on what looked to be an impressive 218-5.
The West Indies openers brought up their century in Liam Livingston’s 30-run eighth over as Lewis smoked the spinner for three sixes and a four and the bowler also missed a wide six.
England’s Jacob Bethel smashed a 22-ball fifty in St Lucia to reach the milestone with a third consecutive six.
England came into the game after three wickets fell in as many balls in Rihan Ahmed’s 10th over. Hope’s run was bowled by Lewis and Nicholas Pooran (0) was bowled by the young leg-spinner (3) for a duck. -43).
West Indies regrouped, with skipper Rovman Powell hitting 38 but faltered when he was bowled in the 17th over by T20I debutant John Turner, requiring 23 runs, with Sherfan Rutherford (29 not out) unlucky not to have been bowled. down the ground as the ball fell between England’s four combined fielders.
However, the home side held on for their first win thanks to Rutherford’s back-to-back sixes from Dan Mousley to ensure they have won their second in every game so far.
The worry for England now will be Livingston’s form after the 31-year-old sprained his knee with a stunning catch at mid-on to dismiss Shimron Hetmyer (7) and left the field.
Bethel dazzles in a lost cause for England
Earlier, Bethel (62 no off 32) completed his second half-century of the series with the third of three consecutive sixes off Roston Chase in the 17th over.
Phil Salt (55 off 35), Jos Buttler (38 off 23) and Will Jacks (25 off 12) starred early as the tourists passed 100 from 9 overs, while Sam Curran 24 participated from the age of 13 until his death.
The series concludes at the same venue on Sunday (8pm UK) before England turn their attention to Test cricket, with the three-match series in New Zealand starting in Christchurch on November 28.
Bethel will be part of the Test squad after being selected as batting cover despite a mid-20s first-class batting average for Warwickshire and without a century to his name.
But he showed just how much talent he has in St Lucia on Saturday, reaching his fifty with a long-on maximum as he smoked the previous two balls of the Chase into the stands.
Bethell’s pyrotechnics of five sixes and four fours came after Salt and Jacks hit 54 off 31 balls and Salt and Buttler added 48 off 26.
England won as hopes of a sweep ended
Powell immediately brought England in after winning the coin flip, seeing the tourists win the first three games of the series in the chase, but may have regretted the decision as his attack fared poorly on a cracked deck.
Jacks had spoken before the game of wanting to contribute to the win after scores of 17, 38 and 32 in the first three matches, but he was once again unable to push on, with Alzari Joseph (1-33) bounced after the strike. one four and two sixes.
England’s Phil Salt hit a fifty after scoring a hundred in the opening match of the series in Barbados.
Buttler then took England to three figures, off Akeal Hossain (0-40) for a six, before Salt gloved Chase through the leg side and later on for an anticlimactic end to a quick-fire innings.
Buttler fell short of the half-century that seemed inevitable when he smashed your boundaries in four balls, but Bethel’s brilliance more than made up for it, while Curran dazzled briefly, including a slapped six over long-on, the only other since Livingstone (4) the man who missed, taking Gudakesh Moti (2-40) to the deep end.
England quick Saqib Mahmood (0-24 from four overs) then failed to add to his eight powerplay wickets in this series, though he faded the maiden in the second over of the chase.
England’s Saqib Mahmood did not miss but conceded just 24 runs in his four overs.
It came shortly after Hope whipped Turner in for the rested Jofra Archer or over the ropes for 25 runs off four balls in the third over, starting the chase in earnest.
West Indies were 69-0 at the end of the Powerplay, unlike in the previous three matches when they lost a combined 11 wickets in the first six overs, including five in the third T20.
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