One of the most feared all-rounders in franchise cricket, Andre Russell has made a successful comeback to international cricket after two years, and how. In the first West Indies vs England T20I at Bridgetown, Russell showed his class with the bat and the ball. He took his side to a comfortable four-wicket win, where he had a major part to play.
Russell first came up with crushing bowling figures of 3/19 to help restrict England to 171 and then scored 29 from 14, to seal the match. With this performance, he also made his contention for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, even stronger.
The match started with West Indies opting to bowl first, on a wicket that largely favoured batting. England batters got to a rollicking start with Philip Salt (40), and Jos Buttler (39), stringing a partnership of 77 in 6.1 overs. But from there on, the momentum kept shifting to the hosts, as England kept losing wickets at regular intervals. None of the batsmen, post that, could convert their starts into a big score. Only Liam Livingstone came up with a substantial score of 27 in 19.
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West Indies vs England T20I, In a Nutshell
As far as the WI bowling is concerned, Russell got ample support from left-arm orthodox spinner Akeal Hossain, who bagged 1/32, and Romario Shepherd, who got two wickets on the day. Their bowling mainstays proved costly though. Former skipper Jason Holder leaked 43, and Alzarri Joseph 54, in his 3.3 overs.
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Then, it was a smooth chase for the West Indies, with Brandon King (22), Kyle Myers (35), and Shai Hope (36), all chipping in with valuable contributions. Lower down the order, Russell and Rovman Powell (31) went berserk and scored at a rate over 200 each to finish the proceedings.
This chase by the West Indies became the highest at the Kensington Oval Ground in Barbados. The previous record was held by the West Indies as well — 155/5 against England in 2014. The two teams play the second T20I of the series in Grenada on Thursday.
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