Evin out to clout England
® WEST INDIES skipper Carlos Brathwaite has warned England they face double trouble in Durham tonight.
Chris Gayle is back in the tourists’ side for the T20 clash at the Riverside, but Brathwaite says fellow opener Evin Lewis is even more explosive.
“In the Caribbean Premier League it was breathtaking stuff from Evin,” the skipper said.
“If you get Chris Gayle playing second fiddle to him, then you know what kind of character he is.
“When he gets going no boundaries in the world are big enough for him.
“He’s unorthodox looking but by the time he really wakes up in the fifth or sixth over he’s on 40-odd.”
Since making his debut in T20s in March 2016, Lewis has smashed two centuries, the second being an unbeaten 125 off 62 balls against India in Kingston.
At 37, Gayle is reaching the twilight of his career but Brathwaite insists he is not ready to hand over the baton just yet.
“In the CPL he was second or third on the leading run scorers. If that doesn’t show hunger I don’t know what does,” Brathwaite added.
Lucky
“He has adapted his game and he’s probably not the swashbuckling Chris Gayle that gets 175 off 80 balls.
“But his experience has been showing. Whichever Chris Gayle turns up is one the West Indies is proud and lucky to have.”
England skipper Eoin Morgan has defended the decision to rest Ben Stokes and avoid a rematch between the local favourite and his World T20 conqueror Brathwaite.
The Windies skipper smashed the Durham bowler for four massive sixes in the final in Kolkata last April.
But Morgan said: “I can see both sides of it, of course guys want to see him play.
“And if there wasn’t an injury risk down the line, or a huge Ashes tour coming up, potentially he might be able to play.
“It’s unfortunate it has to be a game at his home ground but we have to stay strong with the decisions and the plans we have so that down the line we don’t regret playing him in a one-off game.” ENGLAND: Roy, Hales, Malan, Morgan (capt), Bairstow, Buttler Rashid, Plunkett, Willey, T Curran, Ball. WEST INDIES: Gayle, Lewis, Samuels, Walton, K Pollard, R Powell, Brathwaite (c), Narine, Taylor, Williams, Mohammed. Umpires: Michael Gough and Tim Robinson (both England). TV: 6.30pm, Sky Sport Cricket.