Windies considered walk-off in rainswept win

New-look visitors humble England in first Twenty20

West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite said his side were so concerned about the prospect of “careerthreatening injuries” on a sodden outfield they considered abandoning before beating England in a Twenty20 international.

None of the West Indies team at Chester-le-Street on Saturday had been involved in their side’s recent 2-1 three-Test series defeat in England.

Instead Brathwaite and his men had arrived directly from the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 tournament.

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 the West Indies.

But jokes about the weather gave way to major concern when Windies wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton, changing direction to field a deflected ball, slipped and jarred his knee on an already wet outfield that had been exposed to yet more rain during the game.

Walton recovered, however, and he was behind the stumps as West Indies completed a 21-run win — their 11th in 15 Twenty20 internationals against England, a sequence including last year’s World Twenty20 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 in a huddle while Chadwick was getting treatment and most of them said it was unsafe. I told the umpires the boys had some concerns — it could be a careerthreatening injury (next).

He added: “We kind of gave it an ultimatum we got the outfield roped and we were in agreement that if it continued to be unsafe or if anything dramatic or drastic happened we’d call it quits. But cricket was the winner.”

On the field, Chris Gayle (40) and heir apparent 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.

Last year, Brathwaite had punished England with the bat, hitting Ben Stokes for four sixes in as many balls in a dramatic last over as West Indies came from behind to win a thrilling World Twenty20 final in Kolkata.

But on Saturday he starred with the ball by taking three for 20 — the 29-year-old Barbados all-rounder’s best figures at this level.