West Indies T20 World Cup campaign got off to a disastrous start. When their batting squad crumbled in a spectacular manner against England, finally being bowled out for 55 in 14.2 overs.
With dew likely to play a significant role in night matches. England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and chose to bowl the West Indies batters first.
Morgan employed his trump card, Moeen Ali, at the start of the innings on a pitch that gave some grip and turns, and the approach paid off handsomely.
Ali got things started with a superb first over in which he only let up 7 runs. The pressure got to Evin Lewis. Who mistimed a slower ball from right-handed seamer Chris Woakes in an attempt to smash him out of the ground. Ali took care of the rest with a great catch.
The West Indies’ ‘brainless’ batting seemed to be the order of the day. As Lendl Simmons (3 off 7) played into Morgan’s hands by blasting Ali straight to the deep midwicket fielder.
Shimron Hetmyer had been in superb form in the IPL, and he appeared set to keep it up when he thrashed Ali for four straight fours in the fifth over.
One-shot, though, was too much for the southpaw, who mistimed an attempted mid-on pull. Ali concluded with 2/17 in four overs, which was a fantastic performance.
Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne Bravo’s promotion ahead of Pollard and Russell was also a bust. As the all-rounder only managed a run-a-ball 5 before being removed by Chris Jordan.
It got worse for the two-time winner when Chris Gayle, the self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss,’ handed up his wicket off the penultimate ball of the powerplay in a meek manner.
It was a short ball from Tymal Mills, to be sure, but Gayle tried to pull the left-arm seamer. He got a top-edge, and Dawid Malan made no mistake in devouring a straightforward catch.
Adil Rashid proved to be the key reason for the Pollard-led unit’s failure to rebound from the setback.
Pollard and Russell were both bowled in rapid succession by the leg-spinner. Who then devoured Obed McCoy and Ravi Rampaul to post improbable figures of 4/2 in 2.2 overs.
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