Windies save worst for last
Crumble to historic low against England
AN INEPT West Indies suffered their heaviest one-day international defeat to England, when they crashed to a 186-run loss in a lopsided series finale here yesterday.
Reserving their worst performance of the three-match series for the historic Kensington Oval, the hosts batted and bowled with equal indifference, as England pulled off their first-ever clean sweep of an ODI series in the Caribbean.
Sent in, England equaled their highest-ever total against the West Indies and the highest ever at the venue with 328 all out off their 50 overs, with fit-again opener Alex Hales gathering 110 and Joe Root, 101. The pair dominated the West Indies bowling, adding 192 for the second wicket to pull their side around from the early loss of Jason Roy for 17 in the sixth over with 27 runs on the board.
Twenty-year-old fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, playing his first game of the series in place of the injured Shannon Gabriel, claimed four for 76, while captain and fellow seamer Jason Holder picked up three for 41.
SUCCESSFUL CHASE
Having never successfully chased a total in excess of 300 to win an ODI, West Indies buckled under the weight of history and collapsed for 142 all out off 39.2 overs – narrowly avoiding their lowest-ever venue total of 141, 23 years ago.
Only left-hander Jonathan Carter with 46 showed any enterprise, but he was the sole batsman to pass 20 and one of just three to reach double figures.
West Indies were tormented by seamers Chris Woakes (3-16) and Liam Plunkett (3-27) who finished with three wickets apiece while Steven Finn claimed two for 35.
Once the hosts collapsed to 45 for six in the 17th over, the mission became one of avoiding embarrassment, and they needed Joseph’s entertaining unbeaten 22 off 13 balls at number 11, to avert total disaster.