History men Roy and Root anchor England’s highest ever run-chase
Batsmen hit centuries to carry England to victory West Indies opener strikes 12 sixes in his 135
For the most imposing batting lineup in England’s one-day international history, even a Gayle storm only qualifies as a mild inconvenience. Chris Gayle’s 135 on his international return was an innings brimming with theatrical quality; for England, clinical efficiency sufficed.
With almost ludicrous ease, England cruised to their target of 361 and another nugget of history making for this astounding side: their highest successful run chase. Making history has seldom looked so mundane.
Cheered on by a crowd dominated by England fans once again, two contrasting centuries showcased the side’s calibre and range. First came Jason Roy, who arrived at the crease, to begin England’s chase of 361, in considerable debt: Roy had shelled Gayle only nine runs into his century.
West Indies decided to open with Devendra Bishoo – Roy is weakest against leg spin – to make him more angsty. Roy promptly clumped his fourth ball for six over midwicket. It was the prelude to a brilliant assault in the powerplay, during which Roy hit eight boundaries; Gayle, beginning with his customary ostentatious care, only mustered eight runs during this 10-over period.
Roy’s timing and power, dominating a brisk opening stand of 91 in 10.5 overs, set up the game for Joe Root. Nothing better embodies the audacity of England’s ODI batting than Root’s role as anchor – a job he can fulfil even when scoring at more than a run a ball, as he did here. This was a wonderfully unobtrusive century, laced with elegant driving and crisp placement – even if, like Roy, he benefited from the West Indies’ shoddy fielding.
Seven chances, of varying difficulty, were spilt – Ashley Nurse endured a particularly egregious day. These felt like collateral damage induced by the sheer force with which England hurtled towards their target. With Eoin Morgan crisp and adroitly targeting the shorter leg-side boundary, the West Indies found there was no escape, and had the look of a team a bowler short. Long before Jos Buttler crashed his first ball for four to seal victory with eight balls unused, any sense of jeopardy had seeped out of the chase.
It all added up to the sort of victory that reverberates well beyond the mere confines of a bilateral ODI series. Or, at least, it would have done had there been any real surprise about the manner of England’s chase. The wonder of this side is that the ridiculous has become the new normal. In their brilliance,
The wonder of this England side is that the ridiculous has become the new normal
this batting order can make even chasing more than seven an over seem humdrum.
Yet somehow the stands, dominated by England fans though they were, had seemed more alive during the first innings of the game. Chatter about Gayle – these are, almost certainly, his last ever internationals in Barbados – had extended to the street and the beach, word extending even to the uninitiated.
“The West Indies guys are all excited because some old guy is coming back,” remarked one American tourist the day before the game.
Like the best entertainers, Gayle knows that, sometimes, the waiting is part of the thrill. For 54 balls, he poked and prodded at the ball and, wherever possible, left it safely alone, scoring at under a run every two balls. It was incongruous, and yet the prelude to a century that included 12 sixes and five lost balls. His thundering strokes, predominantly hit in the arc between midwicket and long off, called to mind the old banner beloved by his fans in the IPL: “When Gayle bats, fielders become spectators, and spectators become fielders.”
England were rattled, the 15 wides that dotted an uncharacteristically sloppy bowling display showing Gayle’s impact exceeded the 135 runs he scored. Others borrowed from his playbook: Shai Hope played with supreme elegance for his 65, and Darren Bravo, as if affronted to be demoted due to the West Indies’ fine start, promptly launched his first ball for six. When Nurse went down on one knee and smote the last ball of the innings over long on for six, it was the 23rd six of the West Indies innings, setting a new world record.
If conditions were placid for batting, England’s bowling attack did not wear the mantle of World Cup winners as readily as their batsmen would later. Gayle targeted Liam Plunkett after his reprieve, plundering four sixes in 14 balls; he also hit five against Moeen Ali, who leaked 27 in his final over. Adil Rashid was held back until the 33rd over – Eoin Morgan seemingly reticent to bowl him to Gayle – but the variety and vim of his nine overs, which he bowled straight through, showed he remains a potential option at the death of an innings.
Though Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes held up well during the final skirmishes, it was assuredly a good day for one Barbadian native: Jofra Archer.
It was a measure of the relentless brutality of the West Indies line-up that Gayle’s team-mates scored quicker than him, adding 207 in 172 balls while he managed 135 in 129. As England breezed past what they had been set, it raised the question: had Gayle’s early caution hampered his side? His century had taken 35 balls longer than Roy’s – and, for all their contrasting styles, four deliveries more than Root’s, too.