After the abject showing in the first ODI at Edgbaston, West Indies restored some pride with a far better display in the second match of the series that took place at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
They posted a challenging total with an excellent century by Keacy Carty and would surely have forced a victory were it not for an incredible innings by England’s Joe Root.
His 166 not out was his highest score in one-day internationals, and in compiling those runs it took the classy Yorkshire batsman past Eoin Morgan to become England’s leading run-scorer in the one-day format.
England won the game by 3 wickets with 7 balls to spare, but the West Indies will be frustrated at a missed opportunity having been 146-1 at the halfway stage and looking capable of a score approaching 350.
Their 308 was a decent effort, but they fell away towards the end of their overs to such an extent that they lost their last 5 wickets for 50 runs and were all out with still 14 balls remaining.
The loss meant that the series was also out of reach, but encouraged by a more competitive performance it should see the West Indies head to the Oval for the final game in better heart.
Classy knock from Carty
England won the toss and slightly surprisingly decided to bowl first, although they would have been feeling it was a good decision when Jewel Andrew fell in only the second over.
That brought Carty to the crease and he proceeded to construct an impressive score of 103, assisted by some poor England fielding, who spilled two chances to remove him the first when he had only one run to his name.
Big score looked very much on
Together with Brandon King, they added 141 for the second wicket and the lacklustre display of the first game seemed a long way away, as hopes were suddenly high for levelling the series.
Even after King was out for a smart 59, the arrival of Shai Hope kept the momentum going and with 15 overs to go, eight wickets in hand, and 200 already on the board, a score of 330 to 350 looked very much achievable.
Disappointing collapse
Unfortunately after Carty was third man out, players came and went a regular intervals and there was a sense that the total of 308 was 20 or 30 short.
However, when both England’s openers were dismissed within the first nine balls of the chase, it appeared that West Indies were in the driving seat.
Rebuild after shocking start
Captain Harry Brook joined Root at 2-2, but both settled very quickly and began to eat into the total.
Nevertheless, when Brook, Buttler and Bethell were out to leave England on 133-5 it definitely felt like the visitors were heading for an unexpected, but very welcome victory.
Root in a class of his own
Sadly for them, England had the highly accomplished Will Jacks to come in at number seven and he batted sensibly by taking singles to give the strike to Root, who was very much into his stride.
By the time Jacks was out the target was just 33 in 6 overs, and it was fitting that the majestic Root went to his first ODI score of 150 with a glorious cover-driven boundary off a frustrated Matthew Forde.
He struck the winning runs in the next over to finish 166 not out, having essentially won the game for his side single-handedly.
