This post will tell the story of the second ODI between West Indies and England which took place yesterday afternoon and evening UK time (morning and afternoon Antigua time) at North Sound. Before I get to the main body of the post I have small chore to perform:
A CORRECTION TO MY PREVIOUS POST
In my previous post I named Jacob Bethell among England’s debutants in that match. This was not so – he had played five previous matches. The actual debutant I should have named among the four but did not was Jordan Cox, a top order batter and occasional keeper who started his career with Kent and now plays for Essex. In keeping with my policy on such matters I have ensured that this correction cannot be missed.
AN ODD BALANCE
John Turner came in for his international debut, having been in a number of England squads, without quite getting a cap. This meant that England had in effect seven multi-dimensional cricketers (although Cox played purely as a batter he is an occasional keeper) and four bowlers. As any reader of my all time XIs will be aware I am an ardent advocate of sides having a wide range of bowling options if such is possible. However, nine bowling options of varying degrees of seriousness does seem to be overdoing it a touch, especially given that it left the side with a fragile batting order.
LOTS OF OPTIONS, NO PLAN
In the course of the 50 overs of the West Indies innings England skipper Livingstone used all nine of his genuine bowling options. There was no obvious sign of a plan in his usage of his bowlers, and he certainly overused his own mixed spin – 7-0-56-1 is testament to that. West Indies tallied 328 from their 50 overs, a record score for North Sound.
A CAPTAIN’S INNINGS
Phil Salt started well for England. Unfortunately Will Jacks and Jordan Cox both went cheaply. Bethell and Salt had a good partnership, before Salt was dismissed for 59 to make it 107-3. Livingstone now joined Bethell. Bethell joined Salt in reaching 50, but shortly thereafter was fourth out at 160. That brought Sam Curran to the crease, being treated by England as a genuine all rounder, but under suspicion in some quarters of actually not being up to the job in either department. With only Mousley of significance as batter among those still to come the onus was on Livingstone and Curran to do most of the heavy lifting. Livingstone and Curran batted sensibly together, and were still in residence at the end of the 40th over. The target at that point was precisely 100, a rate normally considered achievable in modern limited overs cricket. It was now that Livingstone changed gears. The first bowlers to feel the effects of this were spinners Chase and Motie, but the most dramatic sufferers were two of the quicks, Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales, who each visibly wilted under the Livingstone onslaught. Both bowled wides as well as full tosses (each were trying and failing to nail a yorker), and Livingstone sent two balls clean out of the ground and another into a concrete fixture in one of the stands. Curran, playing a valuable supporting role, brought up a 50 that though in the shadow of Livingstone’s pyrotechnics still came at a run a ball. He was fifth out at exactly 300, ending a match turning stand of 140 with Livingstone. There were 4.3 overs remaining as Mousley joined Livingstone, with the latter on the verge of an extraordinary century. Livingstone reached the landmark, his maiden ODI century, off just 77 balls, and continued on his merry way. He was now in absolutely rampant mood, and precisely two overs after the dismissal of Curran, so with England still having 2.3 overs to spare, he scored the winning run, taking his own score to 124 not out off 85 balls. In total he hit nine sixes and five fours in this spectacular take down of the West Indies.
LOOKING AHEAD
This result means that the sides will head to Barbados with the series locked at 1-1. The West Indies players would of course have preferred to settle the series in this match, but I suspect their board will not be entirely unhappy that the series is level heading to Bridgetown. Livingstone’s amazing innings and the various supporting roles played by Salt, Bethell and Curran should not be allowed to paper over some rather obvious cracks. The England squad is fundamentally unbalanced, and for most of yesterday’s match they looked second best, as they did for the entirety of the first match. I congratulate England on the win, but they do need to look at the balance of future squads, and deepen that batting order. If Livingstone had got out at any stage of overs 41-44 inclusive, as anyone batting like that easily could, it would have been pretty much settled in West Indies favour – it was a much closer thing than the ultimate 2.3 overs to spare suggests.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
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