Evin Lewis, Shai Hope's fifty take West Indies to victory over England in 4th T20I

Valuable half-centuries from Evin Lewis and Shai Hope guided West Indies to victory over England by five wickets in the 4th T20I of the five-match series at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium on Sunday. With this win, the host registered their first victory in this bilateral series. Chasing a mammoth total of 219 runs, Openers Lewis and Hope came out to bat in the middle. Both of them started their innings positively and took on the bowlers from the first over.

The Caribbean side touched the 50-run mark in the fifth over of the innings. Hope completed his fifty on the last ball of the seventh over as he slammed a boundary off the bowling of leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed. The right-hand batter took just 23 balls to complete his half-century.

Both batters smashed 30 runs in the 8th over which brought up their 100-run partnership. This over was bowled by leg-spinner Liam Livingstone. In the same over, Lewis completed his fifty. In the ninth over, West Indies lost three back-to-back wickets as the Three Lions dismissed Lewis, Hope and left-hand batter Nicholas Pooran (0) on the first three balls of the over.

Lewis was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 68 runs in just 31 balls which was laced with with seven maximums and four boundaries in his innings. Hope was also sent back to the dressing room after scoring 54 runs from 24 balls which came with the help of seven fours and three sixes.

After the fall of three quick wickets, skipper Rovman Powell came out to bat along with Shimron Hetmyer in the middle. On the first ball of the ball of the 12th over, West Indies touched the 150-run mark as Powell hit a six on Rehan's bowling. Rehan took his third wicket of the spell as he sent back Hetmyer in the 14th over of the innings. The left-hand batter was dismissed after scoring just seven runs in nine balls.

The West Indies side lost their fifth wicket in the 17th over when the team score was 198. Powell was sent back after scoring a knock of 38 runs in 23 balls which came with three sixes and two fours in his innings. The Rovman Powell side completed 200 runs in the 18th over of the innings. West Indies went on to win the match in the penultimate (19th) over of the innings with five wickets in hand. Sherfane Rutherford (29*) and Roston Chase (9*) remained unbeaten in the last.

The pick of the bowlers for the Jos Butter-led side was Rehan Ahmed who snapped three wickets in his spell of four overs where he conceded 43 runs. One was bagged by Josh Turner in his spell of four overs where he gave away 42 runs and one wicket came through a run out. Earlier in the day, West Indies skipper Rovman Powell won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Batting first, the English side amassed 218/5 in the 20 overs with knocks from Jacob Bethell (62 runs off 32 balls, five maximums and four boundaries), Phil Salt (55 runs from 35 balls, five fours and four sixes), Jos Buttler (38 runs in 23 balls, three maximums and four boundaries), and Sam Curran (24 runs off 13 balls with two sixes).

For West Indies, two wickets were grabbed by Gudakesh Motie in his fours overs where he conceded 40 runs. One wicket was taken by Roston Chase in his spell of four overs where he gave away 47 runs and one wicket came through a run out.

Brief Score: England 218/5 in 20 overs (Jacob Bethell 62*, Phil Salt 55, Gudakesh Motie 2/40) vs West Indies 221/5 in 19 overs (Evin Lewis 68, Shai Hope 54, Rehan Ahmed 3/43). (ANI)