Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali stole a series-clinching victory for England with a clever, classy partnership that ensured Evin Lewis’s spectacular 176 was in vain
The match has been abandoned, and England have clinched the series with a match to spare. That was a superb game, stolen at the death by Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali. The result extremely tough on Evin Lewis, who smashed 176 before fracturing his ankle, and Alzarri Joseph, who took all five England wickets to fall. Thanks for your company, goodnight!
The cut-off time for a restart is 8.45pm, though a chunk of that would be eaten up by removing the covers. And it needs to stop raining first.
It’s still pouring down. If the match is abandoned, and there is a 99.94 per cent chance of that, England will clinch the series with a match to spare.
“The appearance of Stern in the Duckworth-Lewis constellation smacks of legal proceedings restoring an ignored egghead to recognition,” says Ian Copestake. “Say I’m not wrong!”
The match has not been abandoned, though the prospects of further play aren’t good. If they do get back on, England will need 99 from 89 balls.
I can’t tell you how well Buttler and Moeen played in that partnership. They showed such skill, intelligence and calmness to add 77 in eight overs and put England ahead on Duckworth/Lewis in the nick of time. Moeen looked like he was still on a residual high from Bristol and hit a sparkling 48 not out from 25 balls.
35.1 overS: England 258-5 (Buttler 43, Moeen 48) Alzarri Joseph returns to the attack, with West Indies needing a wicket to move back in front on DLS, but he only bowls one ball before the umpires decide the rain is too heavy.
35th over: England 252-5 (Buttler 41, Moeen 48) Buttler and Moeen have batted outrageously well, especially as they’ve almost had to play two different innings each - one with Duckworth/Lewis in mind, one for a full 50-over match. Moeen drives the returning Jerome Taylor in the air for four, just to the right of the man at mid-off. The rain starts to fall after four balls of Taylor’s over, with England needing one more run from the last two deliveries to move ahead on DLS. Moeen pushes the last delivery for four, prompting wild cheers from the crowd! England are ahead on Duckworth/Lewis.
34th over: England 245-5 (Buttler 39, Moeen 39) Moeen flashes Cummins in the air for four, through the hands of the leaping Samuels at backward point. He should have taken that, although it was moving very quickly. Buttler walks across to ramp another boundary, and finally Moeen blasts a drive through extra cover for four more. That’s a great over for England, 15 from it, and now they are only three behind the DLS par score.
33rd over: England 230-5 (Buttler 33, Moeen 30) The urgency of England’s batting, which verges on desperation, suggests they have Duckworth/Lewis in mind. They are still 15 behind, however, after a fine over from Holder. If the match goes the distance England have a good chance, as they need 127 from 17 overs. A rain break is very much in West Indies’ favour.
32nd over: England 224-5 (Buttler 30, Moeen 27) Moeen goes into Bristol mode, smashing 16 from the first three deliveries of Nurse’s over. A big six over midwicket is followed by a vicious pull down the ground for four and a marvellous, fast-handed slog sweep for six more. A single next ball brings Buttler on strike. “It says something when you’re looking forward to bowling at Jos Buttler for a bit of light relief,” says Athers on Sky.
31st over: England 205-5 (Buttler 28, Moeen 10) Buttler forces Holder for four, aided by a misfield from Marlon Samuels at backward point. He has had a stinker of a series, though he’d doubtless point out that it could be worse.
Drinks The DLS par score is 237. If it rains, this match will take a deal of winning for England.
30th over: England 201-5 (Buttler 24, Moeen 10) The offspinner Nurse returns in place of Alzarri Joseph. You’d expect England to go after him, and Buttler scrunches a boundary down the ground. A few singles take England past 200. They need 156 from the last 20 overs.
29th over: England 192-5 (Buttler 17, Moeen 8) A quiet over from Powell, six from it. As Mike Atherton says on Sky, under normal circumstances these two would try to take the game deep and then have a late dash. But it’s difficult to do that today, because the forecast is for rain so they need to be ahead on Duckworth/Lewis if possible.
28th over: England 186-5 (Buttler 14, Moeen 5) Moeen Ali survives the hat-trick ball and then cuffs a boundary through midwicket. Joseph had a stinker in the day/night Test, but today has shown what the fuss is about. He has taken five wickets in his last six overs and has overall figures of 8-0-54-5.
Alzarri Joseph has his fifth wicket, thanks to a superb piece of athleticism from - and you’ll like this - Chris Gayle. Billings, trying to turn a shortish delivery from Joseph to leg, got a leading edge towards first slip. The ball died on Gayle, who plunged to his right to take a superb one-handed catch.
27th over: England 181-4 (Buttler 14, Billings 2) Rovman Powell comes on to bowl some medium pace, and gets through his first over without harm or alarm. England need 176 from 138 balls.
“What chance Bell or Collingwood being called up for Australia a la Colin Cowdrey in 1974,” says Matthew Doherty. Well, Collingwood will be there as part of the coaching team. I don’t think it’ll happen, not with the Lions players nearby, but it’s not completely beyond the realms. He’ll certainly be an option if there’s a bit of dystentery among the ranks.
26th over: England 177-4 (Buttler 10, Billings 0) That was the last ball of the over. Joseph has taken four wickets in his last five overs.
The 20-year-old Joseph is bowling with infectious aggression - and now he has his fourth wicket! Morgan nailed a pick-up shot but it was too close to fine leg, where the substitute Kyle Hope leapt to take a spectacular two-handed catch.
25th over: England 174-3 (Morgan 18, Buttler 10) The offspinner Ashley Nurse comes into the attack, and his first over goes for 11. Buttler reaches outside off stump to crack a boundary between mid-off and extra cover; Morgan reverse sweeps a full toss over short third man for another
24th over: England 163-3 (Morgan 13, Buttler 5) The new batsman is Jos Buttler, promoted to No5 because of Ben Stokes’ hand injury. He gets off the mark with a clip to the midwicket boundary. England are 12 behind on DLS.
Joseph has his third wicket! This is some comeback after a dismal start to his spell. Root launched into a swivel-pull and bottom edged it through to Shai Hope, who took his third catch. England are in trouble now.
23rd over: England 156-2 (Root 14, Morgan 11) Morgan unfurls the sweetest of cover-drives for four off Jerome Taylor. I’d love to be out of form like that. This is a cracking contest, especially as wickets are even more important than usual because of the likely involvement of Duckworth/Lewis. On Sky, Nasser Hussain reckons we might get around 50 minutes more play.
22nd over: England 148-2 (Root 13, Morgan 4) The new batsman is Eoin Morgan, who has made 22 runs in his last nine innings across all formats. And it should be 22 in his last 10 innings! He flashes loosely at his fourth ball from Joseph, edging it straight between the men at first and third slip. West Indies decided to have staggered slips and it cost them. As the ball flew between him and Gayle, Nurse started jumping on the spot in frustration.
Bairstow repeats Jason Roy’s dismissal, opening the face and steering straight to Shai Hope. He swishes his bat in frustration, and his irritation is compounded when Joseph gives him a hard-faced verbal send-off.
21st over: England 143-1 (Bairstow 39, Root 12) That’s a good over from Cummins, only two from it. England are still ahead on DLS, though a wicket would change that.
20th over: England 141-1 (Bairstow 38, Root 11) Root pulls another emphatic boundary, this time off Joseph. He looks bright and breezy, and is probably happy to be out in the middle after the last 72 hours.
“The unluckiest absentee is maybe Sam Robson,” says Geoff Wignall. “He is probably more secure in his play than those preferred.”
19th over: England 134-1 (Bairstow 36, Root 6) Cummins is pulled sweetly behind square for four by Root. England are eight ahead on DLS, which may well come into play in the next couple of hours.
18th over: England 128-1 (Bairstow 35, Root 1) The new batsman is Joe Root, who made a century when England chased down 350 to beat New Zealand two years ago. If he can bat through for around 100 not out, England should win. Easy game, eh.
Jason Roy’s thrilling innings ends in tame fashion with an attempted glide that goes too fine and is taken by the keeper Shai Hope. It was a storming knock, 84 from 66 balls, a timely reminder of Roy’s unique strengths.
17th over: England 116-0 (Roy 77, Bairstow 33) A no-ball from Cummins is pulled for four by Roy, though he can only take a single off the free hit. No matter, it’s another good over for England.
16th over: England 108-0 (Roy 72, Bairstow 31) Bairstow is playing without so much as a sliver of ego, giving the strike to Roy at every opportunity. Roy has faced 60 deliveries to Bairstow’s 36, and the plan is working. England need 249 from the last 34 overs.
15th over: England 103-0 (Roy 70, Bairstow 28) Bairstow works Cummins off the hip for four, and then Roy clouts a majestic six back over the bowler’s head! It’s so nice to see him playing like this after such a miserable Champions Trophy. England are, I think, 18 ahead on DLS at the moment. They’ve scored 27 from the last two overs.
That #England squad is a mess. Fair enough to finish the #Ashes looking like a rabble, but unusual to begin that way
14th over: England 90-0 (Roy 63, Bairstow 22) Jason Holder is being flogged by his captain and will bowl a seventh over on the spin. It’s a weary over, punished appropriately with consecutive pulls to the boundary from Roy followed by four leg-byes. Roy
13th over: England 76-0 (Roy 54, Bairstow 21) Miguel Cummins replaces Joseph, who may change ends. Roy crunches a full delivery onto his own foot, just as Evin Lewis did earlier in the day. Lewis had to be stretchered off and, although Roy isn’t exactly full of the joys of autumn as he grimaces with pain, he is fine to continue. Five runs from the over.
12th over: England 71-0 (Roy 50, Bairstow 20) Bairstow, who hasn’t had as much strike or been as fluent as Roy, misses an attempted cut off Holder. Then Roy drives a single to reach a crisp, confident fifty from 46 balls. As Roy Keane used to scream in Dwight Yorke’s face from time to time, welcome back.
11th over: England 67-0 (Roy 48, Bairstow 18) It’s getting gloomy at the Oval, so England will have to consider DLS at some stage. The introduction of the inexpected Alzarri Joseph might allow for a bit of the old ultraviolence. Roy clouts a pull for four off Joseph’s first ball, a statement of intent that is followed by a sweet chip down the ground for four more. Roy is two away from his first ODI fifty of the summer.
10th over: England 57-0 (Roy 39, Bairstow 17) Bairstow steals a second run to backward square leg, another example of his brilliant running. It’s hard to recall many England players who have been as good between the wickets. Matt Prior was up there, especially when using quick singles as a means of counter-attack.
9th over: England 51-0 (Roy 37, Bairstow 13) Roy clumps Taylor unceremoniously over mid off for four to bring up the England fifty. It’s been a familiar Roy start, 37 from 35 balls, and because of it England are still in the game.
8th over: England 47-0 (Roy 33, Bairstow 13) Like all the best things in life, Jason Roy’s impact can be measured in stats. His ODI strike-rate of 101 is the highest of any England opener, unless you count statistical freaks like Mike Gatting and Steven Davies.
7th over: England 42-0 (Roy 30, Bairstow 11) Roy runs down the pitch to whack a low full toss from Taylor through mid-off for four, and follows up with a pretty gorgeous back-foot drive that bisects the two men in the covers on the way to the boundary. When Roy is in this mood, and this form, he becomes must-see TV.
“It’s a fair old target, but no need to panic,” says Matt Dony. “Lay a good foundation, then hopefully Stokes can come out swinging. What? Oh...”
6th over: England 32-0 (Roy 21, Bairstow 10) With the exception of two or three fourballs this has been an excellent start from Taylor and Holder, who have given England little to work with.
“This is a bit of a frantic day of cricket news eh Rob?” says Guy Hornsby. “Despite the elephant in the room, Stokes feels like a bit of a footnote right now, given the Ashes squad announcement and this hellfire game. I’d agree that nothing feels worthy of a 140-character CAPS LOCK diatribe, but there’s still a lot of unknowns with who’ll be No.3, No.5 and second seamer come the Gabba, or the G. It feels like we’ve covered a lot of bases, but none of the potentials are people you’d back right now to rip up trees. I’d love for Vince to be the surprise of the tour, but I feel we’ll be talking a lot about him as a hipster Ramprakash, making stylish 20s before nicking off classily to second slip. We could win down under, but we could get walloped too. In some ways a good tour for TRJ and Hameed to watch on telly, no?”
5th over: England 27-0 (Roy 18, Bairstow 8) Taylor straightens an excellent delivery past Bairstow’s outside edge, the start of a fine over that costs only a single. England need 330 from the remaining 45 overs.
4th over: England 26-0 (Roy 18, Bairstow 7) Bairstow works Holder off the pads for his first boundary. These two and Joe Root will be so important because, with the exception of Moeen Ali, the middle order aren’t in the greatest form. Roy has a moment of fortune later in the over when he edges through the vacant slip area for two
3rd over: England 19-0 (Roy 16, Bairstow 2) A short ball from Taylor is cuffed emphatically over square leg for four by Roy, who is then beaten feeling gingerly outside off stump. He has 16 from 14 balls, Bairstow two from four.
2nd over: England 14-0 (Roy 12, Bairstow 1) Jason Holder shares the new ball, and Roy tucks him into the leg side for four. After a desperate summer in international cricket, he looks more like the dominant Roy of old.
“What do you think of the Ashes squad then?” says Andrew Benton.
1st over: England 9-0 (Roy 8, Bairstow 1) England will probably need Jason Roy to go off like a pacemaker in a if they are to win this match. He has the capacity to score 70 off 50 balls, something like that, and he starts confidently by taking eight off hi first three deliveries from Jerome Taylor.
“Evin Lewis may well have hit the highest score in an ODI at the Oval, but England have the person whose record he just broke opening for them,” says Stephen Brown. “So that, and his general need to show he should still be considered a force to be reckoned with, should get Roy’s arm’s pumping early on. Now would also be a good time for Morgan to get back in form. I put England as second favourites at the moment, but not by much.”
Hello there. When this match started it felt like a background accompaniment to a long chat about Ben Stokes and England’s Ashes squad, so it’s a pleasant surprise to be talking about the actual cricket. Evin Lewis’s swaggering 176, confirmation of the spectacular talent we have read so much about it in the last year, took West Indies to a mighty 356 for five. It’s not an unassailable total, not at the Oval, but England will need to bat darn well to win.
Without Hales or Stokes, England will have to chase down a huge total. A lot of pressure is on Jason Roy to perform: this is his home ground, the pitch is fairly flat and he’s probably not going to get another opportunity soon if he doesn’t do well here – Hales will most likely return for Friday’s match at the Rose Bowl.
England started bowling well, but got worse as West Indies got better with the bat. The fielding was also sub-standard, a few mis-fields and three dropped catches, although all of them were tricky.
50th over: West Indies 356-4 (Holder 77 and out, Powell 28) Plunkett is given the ball for the last over. He’s unlucky as Powell top edges one over the head of Buttler for four, and bowls short two balls later, which Powell smashes for six. I have no idea why there have not been more yorkers, short bowling does not seem to be working at all. Holder is out on the final ball of the innings, and West Indies finish on 356, with 131 off the last 10 overs. Woof.
Last ball of the innings: Plunkett throws up a full toss, Holder swings his bat but can only find Billings in the deep.
49th over: West Indies 344-4 (Holder 76, Powell 17) Two overs left. Woakes tries a wide yorker, but Holder improvises well, steering a clever half volley wide of backward point for four. Holder repeats the trick next ball, but Morgan had moved third man Moeen a bit squarer, and he was able to cut it off for a single. Next ball: six for Powell! It’s not a bad ball from Woakes, but Powell moved across his stumps and flicked it nonchalantly off his pads. A couple more singles: it doesn’t feel like a bad over but that’s 14 off the over.
48th over: West Indies 330-4 (Holder 70, Powell 9) West Indies need to get Holder on strike ASAP, but Powell manages to shovel a full toss straight back to the bowler. A single does get Holder on striker from the second ball, but that’s some clever bowling from Moeen. Variation does for Holding, and a tick edge and a cover drive means that there’s just seven from the over.
Mike Daniels has an email:
47th over: West Indies 323-4 (Holder 66, Powell 5) It’s Ball to bowl the last of his 10 overs. After Holder tickles one down to third man, Lewis smashes an inside edge ball against his own ankle. Crickey, the 25-year-old is in agony, writhing around on the ground. He’s really hurt himself here, his face is all screwed up and Holder beckons for the physio to come on. Lewis is still down on the ground after three minutes – I don’t think he’s going to be able to continue! They’ve called for the stretcher! Such a shame, no player has ever got an ODI double hundred in England, and Lewis would have been gearing up for that total in these last few overs. Morgan won’t mind. Lewis leaves the field unbeaten on 176 – which is the highest ever total that somebody has retired hurt. He’s given a standing ovation as he is wheeled off the field, he looks devastated. Powell comes in, and Ball goes to work with his yorkers, although Powell manages to clip one for four! The fielder was at mid-wicket and he couldn’t get across! Six from the over.
46th over: West Indies 317-4 (Holder 66, Lewis 176) Plunkett finally reels it back: one (slow ball), dot (wide yorker), one (length), one (full), one (full), one (cutter). That’s excellent death bowling, Plunkett kept Holder and Lewis guessing every ball.
45th over: West Indies 310-4 (Holder 63, Lewis 174) First ball from Ball – who took his time limbering up in an attempt to try and break West Indies’s momentum – and Holder sends it for another maximum, what a way to bring up 300. Next ball is a full toss, but only a single, before yet another six, this time Ball is sent careering over square leg. Ball finally throws down a yorker. Finally. This is now the highest West Indian fifth wicket ODI partnership ever. England are really missing Stokes, but I’m not sure if even he could handle Holder and Lewis at the moment. We were wondering earlier if West Indies would make 300.
44th over: West Indies 295-4 (Holder 55, Lewis 165) Lewis is on fire. Four, six, six, two, four, two, one. Twenty-five from the over. Lewis reaches his 150 and is looking likely to beat the highest ODI score against England: Viv Richards’ 189. A miserable over for Moeen.
43rd over: West Indies 270-4 (Holder 54, Lewis 143) This has become a bit of a T20 innings now. A lot of pressure on Woakes as he comes into bowl, Lewis swings but doesn’t connect, and has to settle for the single. But it isn’t long until Lewis finds his range, swatting Woakes for six, the ball just bouncing over the rope. Woakes is varying his pace, and his line, but Lewis is dealing with this just fine. Holder survives another run-out, just getting in despite a direct hit from Morgan, before battering yet another six over mid-one. And that takes Holder to his 50!
42nd over: West Indies 255-4 (Holder 47, Lewis 135) Mooen comes in, as England try to stem the tide. It doesn’t work, Holder smashing the first ball of the over back over Moeen’s head. So powerful, the ball doesn’t get 20 feet off the ground, but hits the rope again on the fly. Moeen panics, throws down a wide, before Holder smashes another six. This is getting ugly for England. Forty-three runs in the last three overs. Ouch.
41st over: West Indies 240-4 (Holder 32, Lewis 121) Rashid’s final over. The absence of Stokes may well tell from hereon in. Rashid throws down a googly, Lewis doesn’t pick it and the ball spoons over Jason Roy at cover. Roy sprints back, and he gets to it, but spills it back towards the boundary. England’s third drop of the innings, but they’ve all been tough chances. Lewis isn’t hanging around though, smashing a six over mid-wicket the next ball – which lands on the rope on the fly – and then under-edging one past Buttler for another four. Fifteen from the over! West Indies motoring here, and with wickets in hand!
40th over: West Indies 225-4 (Holder 32, Lewis 121) Plunkett resumes, he gets some words of advice from Morgan, who looks a full foot shorter next to the bowler. It seems the advice doesn’t pay off: two consecutive sixes. The first is a top edge, with Rashid just unable to catch it on the boundary – he trips on the rope – but the second is absolutely smashed back over Plunkett’s head. I think that’s ended up near England’s dressing room. Wow, he middled that. Lewis moves into 121, 10 overs left!
39th over: West Indies 212-4 (Holder 31, Lewis 109) Holder goes over the top. Woakes is a little short and the West Indies captain simply stands there and bats it over mid-wicket. It falls two feet shy of the boundary, we haven’t had a maximum yet here today. Holder then goes for a quick single, and Root shows excellent skills in scooping, turning and throwing at the stumps – he connects, but Holder’s long arms ensure that he’s in. Next, Lewis is lucky that a square cut falls just short of point.
38th over: West Indies 207-4 (Holder 26, Lewis 109) Another close call for Ball! Holder takes on a short ball but completely mis-times it, the ball cannoning off the underside of his bat, onto the ground and just missing leg stump. So nearly chopped on. Lewis, meanwhile, powerfully pulls another short ball to square leg, but Bairstow does excellently on the boundary, just as he has all day.
37th over: West Indies 201-4 (Holder 23, Lewis 106) The 200 is up for the West Indies and also the 50-partnership between Holder and Lewis off just 48 balls. Woakes bowls a nice little bouncer to Lewis, who actually does a pretty good job of getting out of the way. Woakes tries another short ball, but this time Lewis takes it on – he doesn’t get all of it, but finds a single.
36th over: West Indies 199-4 (Holder 22, Lewis 105) Fifteen overs left then, and West Indies will think 300, maybe even 320 will be within reach if these two stick around. That’s some recovery after being 33-3. Jake Ball’s seventh over of his 10, and he tries a slower ball – around 75mph – but on this pitch, it simply sits up. But he’s bowled well today, and perhaps a little unlucky not to get a wicket. Three from the over.
35th over: West Indies 194-4 (Holder 20, Lewis 104) England need a wicket, and so Woakes comes back into the attack. But he’s a little wayward, and Holder pounces on a short and wide delivery, punching it through the covers. He’s such a powerful man, Holder, 6ft6in and shoulders like boulders, and sometimes he just need to lean. Woakes is not much better to Lewis, who hits consecutive fours to fine leg to finish the over, the first of which brings up his century! Helmet removed and blade raised, he acknowledges the applause as Brian Lara looks on. A magnificent innings, 14 fours, no sixes.
34th over: West Indies 183-4 (Holder 15, Lewis 96) These two, particularly Lewis, are nippy between the stumps, and take advantage of some sloppy England fielding. Certainly two of three runs here that they had no right to get. Just four away from his century, I’ve been extremely impressed by Lewis, I knew he had the destructive power as he showed with a T20 century against India in July, but this has been a very smart, tactical innings. He’s had to change the pace of attack constantly and always looked in control. Holder less so, he spoons one up from Ball into the air, the ball landing three feet wide of a sprinting Moeen. Fortunate.
33rd over: West Indies 176-4 (Holder 12, Lewis 92) West Indies seem happy to just keep the scoreboard ticking over, some neat singles and each aggressive shot is a measured one. Right on cue, Lewis rocks back onto his back foot and nicely despatches a shot Rashid ball to the boundary, dissecting mid-off and extra cover. He’s into the 90s.
32nd over: West Indies 169-4 (Holder 10, Lewis 87) Ball replaces Plunkett, who has looked out of sorts today. The sun is streaming down on the Oval, and the pitch is flat-ish, this is a good opportunity for Holder and Lewis. We’ll see when Woakes comes back, but I suspect that swing that we saw at the start of the innings is now more. It’s now not so muggy. Good over from Ball, five from it, and he was unlucky not to remove Holder, who so nearly chopped onto his own stumps.
31st over: West Indies 164-4 (Holder 8, Lewis 84) Holder shows a much better drive against Rashid, getting to the pitch of the ball and going with the spin. He’s a class act once he gets in, England will want to remove him ASAP.
30th over: West Indies 157-4 (Holder 2, Lewis 81) Plunkett resumes, but is maybe lacking the pace to really worry Lewis. It’s very disappointing not to have Mark Wood fitter. A fuller delivery from Plunkett, and Holder is dropped by Morgan at cover. That’s his second fumble of the day, again a very tough chance. Morgan was at full stretch to his left and actually managed to catch the thing, but as he hit the deck, the ball squirmed out of this hands. Very unlucky. A reprieve for Holder. West Indies need an innings from him.
29th over: West Indies 153-4 (Holder 2, Lewis 81) That’s an important breakthrough for England. They wouldn’t be worried about the run rate, but with wickets in hand, West Indies could accelerate at any time. Rashid has blown hot and cold this morning, but that was a vital blow. West Indies captain Holder gets off the mark straight away, punching one down the ground.
An excellent catch from Buttler! It’s a short-ish delivery from Rashid, which Mohammed goes to cut, but instead gets a large edge. Buttler’s hands snaffle it and he takes the congratulations from those around him, including Test keeper Bairstow. That’s the end of a 117-run partnership.
28th over: West Indies 148-3 (Mohammed 46, Lewis 79) Plunkett is retained, but his balls have been a bit short today, 52% of his deliveries. There doesn’t seem to be much jeopardy for the batsman, but Plunkett’s line is much better and he concedes just two runs.
27th over: West Indies 146-3 (Mohammed 45, Lewis 78) Rashid returns for his sixth over, which passes without note another than a few singles. Lewis mis-timed a couple of drives.
26th over: West Indies 141-3 (Mohammed 44, Lewis 75) Just over the half-way stage then, and West Indies will be a little disappointed with the score, but delighted with how these two have upped the ante in the last few overs. Stick around, and they may well surpass 300. At mid-on, Joe Root dives to his left to save a certain boundary but Plunkett is off target again – too straight – and Mohammed just glances it down to fine man for four.
25th over: West Indies 132-3 (Mohammed 38, Lewis 74) Rashid is looking increasingly flaky here, and Lewis races onto 74 with a powerful cut away through the covers. I’m pleased to say that Brian Lara is another man in the stands, dressed in a sharp suit, drinking champagne, laughing. Lovely.
24th over: West Indies 126-3 (Mohammed 37, Lewis 69) Plunkett replaces Moeen and comes back into the attack.Both batsman have surpassed their ODI averages. He can be a patchy player but I’m surprised Lewis’s is as low as 28.57.
“Re Ashes squad: I really, really hope England play Stokes, Woakes and Foakes together,” emails Barney Jeffries. “I wonder what’s the record for the most rhyming names in a team?”
23rd over: West Indies 121-3 (Mohammed 36, Lewis 65) Rashid resumes. Mohammed is starting to loosen his arms now, and he hits a couple of shots down to extra cover, where Bairstow twice fields. And oh dear, Beefy just showcased his West Indian accent on commentary. “Easy man”. Christ.
22nd over: West Indies 115-3 (Mohammed 30, Lewis 65) Lewis is looking a class act, tickling one from Moeen fine past third man this time. It’s a quick out field here, but a much bigger boundary than Bristol on Sunday so it’s hard to say what is going to be a good total. West Indies will probably be hoping for 300, but it’s more likely 270/280-ish.
21st over: West Indies 108-3 (Mohammed 28, Lewis 60) Rashid resumes. He’s had an excellent line so far today, but this is a poor over for him, 12 from it as West Indies bring up the ton. Mind you, a couple of excellent shots – Lewis tucking one fine past fine leg and then playing a glorious drive off the back foot through the covers.
20th over: West Indies 96-3 (Mohammed 26, Lewis 51) But then Moeen throws up an absolute dolly – a half-volley well outside off stump, and Mohammed lofts it over extra cover for four. He needed that, as did the West Indies. Lewis, meanwhile reaches his 50 with a single, but as expected there’s not much fanfare. Fifty-one runs off 53 balls. But still a lot of work to do.
19th over: West Indies 88-3 (Mohammed 20, Lewis 49) The pressure is building on Mohammed. Just two runs from his last 12 balls, and he manages just the one run from this over to retain the strike for the next over.
18th over: West Indies 86-3 (Mohammed 19, Lewis 48) There’s a little lull in this game at the moment, with Rashid and Moeen, here, stifling this game. England and Morgan will be just fine with that. Just the one run from the over.
17th over: West Indies 85-3 (Mohammed 19, Lewis 47) Rashid into the attack, so spin from both ends now. I wonder what Rashid thinks of Mason Crane’s inclusion in the Ashes squad. Just 20 years old, an average of 42.22 in the County Championship this summer, I’m not sure I’d want Crane going out at the Gabba for the first Test should something happen to Moeen between now and 23 November. Spare a thought for Jack Leach too, an average this season of around 20 and over 100 wickets, more than twice what Crane managed. Anyway, Rashid starts with a wide with Lewis pilfering a couple more.
16th over: West Indies 82-3 (Mohammed 18, Lewis 46) Root is brought on, Morgan will be hoping he can emulate Moeen’s spin. Ah, nope, he’s whacked for four off the first ball by Mohammed – Root is absolutely furious with himself – and Lewis canters down the pitch for the the over’s final delivery, volleying one powerfully through the covers.
15th over: West Indies 72-3 (Mohammed 13, Lewis 41) That said, West Indies need to up it here. A run a ball wouldn’t get them past 300 at present. Moeen keeps it tight again, that’s just seven runs conceded from his three overs thus far.
14th over: West Indies 68-3 (Mohammed 11, Lewis 39) Plunkett is certainly not at his best – he’s shaking his head a lot out there – as Lewis creams one through mid-wicket for four. Lewis has looked good out here, he’s beginning to build a nice innings here. Mohammed has looked a bit more nervy the other end.
13th over: West Indies 62-3 (Mohammed 10, Lewis 34) Theresa May is at the Oval, sat next to Trevor McDonald in a private box. Never mind the impending doom of nuclear war or Brexit, get yourself to the cricket Terry! When the Labour conference is on, it’s evidently time to put your feet up. Moeen concedes his first runs, as Lewis squirts a couple away down to third man.
12th over: West Indies 59-3 (Mohammed 10, Lewis 31) England have had better summers in the field and Morgan would have been disappointed to drop that, even though it was a very good effort. Plunkett resumes, apart from one wide, he keeps it nice and tight. West Indies’ run rate has dropped below five.
11th over: West Indies 55-3 (Mohammed 9, Lewis 29) Woakes has been good all series, but this is the best I’ve seen him bowl in a while. Still, all good things have to come to an end, and Moeen Ali comes into the attack for England’s second change. He’ll throw down to Mohammed to start, it’s a flat-ish pitch here at the Oval. Morgan dives nicely to stop a cover drive on the second ball, that’s better from the captain, but then he drops Mohammed on the fourth ball! Ooof! That was a tough chance, it absolutely flew off the bat, Morgan timed his jump well and reached the ball, but could only palm it and couldn’t catch the ball at the second and third attempt. Maiden for Moeen.
10th over: West Indies 55-3 (Mohammed 9, Lewis 29) Plunkett comes back onto the pitch and straight into England’s attack. His figures of 5-52 on Sunday were his best ODI figures this year, he’s been a magnificent bowler in 2017. Of course, none of that matters as Mohammed smashes his first ball for four, before Plunkett bowls two wides. Hmmm. That’s the 50 up for the Windies and the end of the powerplay.
9th over: West Indies 46-3 (Mohammed 2, Lewis 29) David Willey, England’s 12th man today, comes on for Plunkett, it’s not immediately obvious why. Woakes canters in and there’s another lbw appeal against Lewis, but he just managed to get an inside edge onto his stumps. Five dot balls to start the over, before Lewis goes and ruins it all with a lovely swivel and pull to the boundary. Four.
“Considering Hales is available for the fifth ODI, it seems that Jason Roy’s international career (at least in the short term) hinges on him scoring a fairly significant number of runs today,” emails Robert Taylor. “He could be forgiven if part of him is cursing England for starting so well.”
8th over: West Indies 42-3 (Mohammed 2, Lewis 25) Ball resumes.Plunkett, all 6ft3in of him, gets down well to try a run-out, but Lewis gets back in time. Mohammed looks nervy, a swing and a miss, and there’s plenty of natter from England’s slip cordon behind the stumps. Less impressive fielding from Morgan, who misfields in the covers, which allows Mohammed to get off-striker. Lewis immediately goes on the offensive, crashing one to the boundary, pulling Ball through square leg.
7th over: West Indies 35-3 (Mohammed 1, Lewis 19) The sun is shining at the Oval, and England are well on top here. Four slips are out for Woakes, and a gully – he’s 3-18 at the moment. He’s throwing it up outside off stump, and encouraging the drive. Why not, in conditions like these? Couple of men on the boundary, but it’s a very attacking field.
Woakes gets his third! Samuels got himself into all kind of trouble in front of his stumps, failed to connect on a clip down to third man, the ball hitting him on the kneeroll. West Indies have already used their one review on Hope, so Samuels has to walk. Replays show it was just clipping the top of the bales, so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway with the on-field decision as out. Woakes looking absolutely tip-top here.
6th over: West Indies 33-2 (Samuels 1, Lewis 18) Another over, another appeal! Ball pins Samuel on his pads, but with the on-field decision being not out, Morgan decides against a review. Morgan is fielding at backward point I think, which means he has a pretty good idea of height, and replays show it was going over the top. A couple of neat singles precede a big powerful striker from Lewis – he smashes a full ball down the ground. Not a lot of footwork there, but it’s effective.
5th over: West Indies 26-2 (Samuels 0, Lewis 12) Woakes bowls his first bad ball of the day, and Lewis responds accordingly, cutting the high-and-wide delivery through for a boundary. England hands go up for an appeal for a lbw – Lewis does have a tendancy to shuffle across his stumps – but the Trinidadian got some bat on it, and I think it pitched outside leg anyway.
“These player profiles, unfortunately borrowed from Sky’s football coverage, are terrible,” emails Kevin Wilson. “Basically you get a few regular poses - the tough, non-smiling “don’t give a toss” look for batsmen, the “hold the ball up” because I’m a deadly fast bowler or the “point at the camera like you’re in a 90s boy band shooting a pop video”
4th over: West Indies 20-2 (Samuels 0, Lewis 6) TheWindies sensibly take their foot off the gas to compose themselves. They’ve already lost two big batsman. Just the one run from the over, nice stuff from Ball.
3rd over: West Indies 19-2 (Samuels 0, Lewis 5) The funny thing was that before his dismissal, Hope looked to be playing well, 11 from 11 balls, which included a beautiful drive straight down the ground to start the over. Immaculate timing, he seemed just to be a forward defensive but didn’t need to move after that. There was a little bit of confusion between the batsman at the end – Samuels called for a run, Lewis didn’t budge – but Morgan was unable to field the ball cleanly and Samuels recovered.
Woakes gets his second wicket! Hope plays at one he really shouldn’t, the ball nicking the top of the bat and carrying easily through to Buttler. The umpire gives it out on the first, Hope reviews it, but UltraEdge shows a small spike.
2nd over: West Indies 15-1 (Hope 7, Lewis 5) Ball, a spring in his step, starts with a wide. Hope and Lewis nibble a couple of singles away before Ball whizzes one past the edge of Lewis. There’s an appeal – Root at first slip particularly likes it – but no dice. Root ponders a review, but decides against it, and and Lewis guides one down to third man for four to end the over.
1st over: West Indies 6-1 (Hope 4, Lewis 0) Hope trots out and smashes the first ball for four, and then plays and misses the last ball of the over. There’s definitely some movement out there for Woakes, very interesting for the rest of the seamers.
The danger man is gone fourth ball! Woakes zipped one two inches wide of Gayle’s stumps the previous ball and straightened up slightly, with Gayle nicking one to Root at first slip. He had to play at that, great start for England!
Gayle and Lewis are out in the middle, Gayle to face the first ball. Woakes is limbering up, he’ll start from the Vauxhall end.
Our first email of the day, from Michael Bate.
“Good afternoon Michael, How’s the atmosphere looking at the Oval? (I’m not talking about fancy dress and beer snakes) I’m down the road in Clapham and am keeping the windows shut after reading this …”
Related: Sadiq Khan triggers alert for high air pollution in London
Mark Stoneman, another man on the Ashes plane, is in action for Surrey today, falling just shy of a century – out for 98. Surrey are 174 for six at Old Trafford, leading by 107 – Lancashire are on the march! Join Will Macpherson for all the county action today in our rolling liveblog as the relegation and promotion races near their climax.
Related: County cricket: relegation and promotion races near climax – live!
West Indies have made one change to Sunday’s side, Alzarri Joseph in for Devendra Bishoo. Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis will open the batting for the tourists, I’m a big fan of this picture from Sky …
West Indies captain Jason Holder calls heads, it comes down tails.
Eoin Morgan talks to the cameras.
Any team that loses Ben Stokes means that they’re at a loss but it means that Jason Roy comes in at the top of the order, Sam Billings will bat at six.
The inclusion of James Vince in the Ashes squad is an interesting one. Tom Westley can feel genuinely to have missed out - his Test average and County Championship average is higher than Vince’s, and unlike the Hampshire batsman, he has a Test half century to his name. As Simon Mann pointed out this morning, even Paul Collingwood – a coach on the Ashes tour – has a higher average than Vince this season.
But then, the Ashes are not all about numbers and the statement given this morning by national selector James Whitaker regarding Vince was telling:
The selectors are backing James Vince to make an impact on his recall to the Test squad. He is a quality strokeplayer and we believe his game will suit the Australian pitches. His understanding of the England set-up will help him settle into the environment quickly and hit the ground running when we arrive in Perth next month.”
In case you were in any doubt, this week marks the end of the British summer. The Met Office might tell you that it passed last Friday but officially, the seasons change when first-class cricket ceases to be played in the UK, and with the county championship wrapping up and England playing two final ODIs – today and Friday – we can earnestly turn our attention to Australia and the Ashes. That is, if you hadn’t already. In case this preamble is your first foray onto the internet today, England announced their Ashes squad earlier.
Related: Stokes, Vince and Ballance named in England’s Ashes squad
Joe Root (Yorkshire, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Gary Ballance (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Craig Overton (Somerset), Ben Stokes (Durham), Mark Stoneman (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
Continue reading...