England sealed the Twenty20 series against West Indies at the earliest opportunity after extending the familiar pattern on this tour: winning the toss and chasing down a score.
This latest victory, by three wickets, was nowhere near as straightforward as the previous two despite the 146-run target being the smallest of the lot.
Dew in Barbados last weekend made the ball skip on, but here it stuck in the surface for longer, making Jos Buttler’s hat-trick of correct toss calls less influential than it might have been.
Ultimately, it was West Indies’ poor fielding that proved costly as Liam Livingstone was dropped three times during a crucial 39 – twice in single figures by wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran and then again by Shimron Hetmyer on 21.
In a dramatic finale, Hetmyer also allowed an aerial blow from Dan Mousley to go over his head for six when it would have been a straightforward catch had he been back on the rope.
West Indies were marginally ahead when Will Jacks departed in the 11th over, with England 75 for four, but Sam Curran dealt with the pressure and alleviated it when with 44 required from 31 he pumped the final ball of Gudakesh Motie’s spell for six.
Sam Curran hit an impressive 41 to guide England to victory in Saint Lucia
Curran teamed up with Liam Livingstone to put together a match-winning partnership
Curran fell for a top score 41 in the next over, which cost Terrance Hinds a meaty 14, but Livingstone got his team to within four runs of the finish line before holing out and Rehan Ahmed slashed over backward point with four balls unused.
That England took an unassailable 3-0 lead, claiming a first away series in more than two years and stringing four wins together for the first time since becoming world champions in 2022, was chiefly down to Saqib Mahmood’s outstanding opening spell of 3-0-15-3.
England lost three early wickets themselves, but it was the damage done at the start of the match that was lasting.
Mahmood’s new-ball masterclass left them 37 for five. Prior to this series, his power play wickets for England had cost 98.5 runs apiece, but bowling almost two metres fuller on average than in the past has coincided with a sharp spike in his success rate.
After England were given the boost of a cheap first over dismissal, courtesy of a brilliant piece of fielding from Jacob Bethell – seizing on a ball tucked to square leg and hitting the one stump he had to aim at to run out Shai Hope – the Lancastrian got to work once again.
Evin Lewis’ attempt to drag across the line saw Jofra Archer pouch a smart tumbling catch, diving forward at third man, and Roston Chase became the fourth victim in a 17-ball spell when he sliced a tempter to slip.
Chase’s departure followed that of Nicholas Pooran, castled by an Archer delivery from around the wicket as West Indies refused to stop swinging.
When Mahmood produced a precision bouncer to snare the recalled Shimron Hetmyer in the deep, the home team were in danger of imploding, but captain Roman Powell stood firm, successfully overturning a leg before decision on 35 and top-scoring for a second match in a row, this time with 41-ball 54.
The majority of those runs came during a 73-run alliance with Romario Shepherd, but instead of launching from a position of 110 for five after 15 overs, West Indies fell away courtesy of Jamie Overton’s career-best England bowling.
Never before had he claimed more than one wicket in an international innings, but his clever change-ups duped the two set batters plus Gudakesh Motie for a return of three for 20.
Saqib Mahmood took three wickets as England made a dominant start after winning the toss
Jamie Overton (left) also took three wickets for Jos Buttler’s men as England sealed a series victory with two matches to spare
The start was delayed by 50 minutes due to a combination of spongy areas of the outfield causing concern to umpires Leslie Reifer and Deighton Butler and a rain shower coinciding with the rescheduled toss time.
England’s acting head coach Marcus Trescothick could be seen pressing the soles of his boots into the dampest areas not long after the tourists arrived at the Daren Sammy Stadium, and sand was sprinkled on the boundary edge to aid the footing of fielders.
Greasy surfaces here in the Caribbean have already accounted for Reece Topley, who was flying home overnight and is due to undergo scans on his right knee in London on Friday.
Topley also has hamstring discomfort after slipping in his bowling folllow-through as rain fell in the first T20 in Barbados. It is the latest set-back for the 30-year-old, following a freakish twisting of his ankle on boundary cushions that sidelined him during the 2022 World Cup.
