WI considered walking off in rain-swept win

CHESTER-LE-STREET:WEST Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite said his side were so concerned about the prospect of “career-threatening injuries” on a sodden outfield they considered abandoning before beating England by 21 runs in a T20I.

Brathwaite and his men had arrived directly from the Caribbean Premier League.

Conditions at the Riverside, the home of northeast county Durham, were always likely to prove challenging for a team used to the rather warmer climate back home in West Indies.

But jokes about the weather gave way to concern when Windies wicket-keeper Chadwick Walton, changing direction to field a deflected ball, slipped and jarred his knee on an already wet outfield.

Walton recovered, however, and he was behind the stumps as West Indies completed the win --their 11th in 15 T20IS against England, a sequence including last year’s World T20 final triumph in India.

But it almost did not happen after Walton’s injury, with Brathwaite telling a post-match news conference: “I had a chat with a few of the boys while Chadwick was getting treatment and most of them said it was unsafe.”

SPECTATORS HURT Durham later revealed that three spectators were injured after falling on unstable flooring in the North East Terrace, with stewards evacuating the area as a safety precaution.

Chris Gayle (40) and Evin Lewis (51) got West Indies off to a flying start with a rapid firstwicket stand of 77 before England, with Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid sharing six wickets, held the tourists to 176 for nine.

Brief scores: West Indies 176-9 in 20 overs (C Gayle 40, E Lewis 51, L Plunkett 3-27, A Rashid 3-25) bt England 155 in 19.3 overs (A Hales 43, K Williams 3-35, C Brathwaite 3-20, S Narine 2-15)