Brilliant Holder, outstanding Hosein bowl West Indies to series victory
SUMMARY: WEST INDIES 179-4 from 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 41* off 25, Rovman Powell 35* off 17, Brandon King 34 off 31, Kyle Mayers 31 off 19, Nicholas Pooran 21 off 24; Adil Rashid 2-17, Liam Livingstone 2-17) vs ENGLAND 162 all out from 19.5 overs (James Vince 55 off 35, Sam Billings 41 off 28; Jason Holder 5-27, Akeal Hosein 4-30)
Jason Holder took four wickets from the final four balls to send England to a 17-run defeat in the deciding Twenty20 and give West Indies a 3-2 series win in Barbados.
With England needing 20 from the last over, Barbadian Holder had Sam Billings, Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid caught on the leg-side boundary and then bowled Saqib Mahmood.
West Indies earlier overcame being subdued by England’s spinners to take advantage of some poor death bowling in their 179-4.
Rovman Powell clubbed 35 not out from 17 balls and captain Kieron Pollard supported with an unbeaten 41.
James Vince looked to be carrying England in the chase, but crucially top-edged Akeal Hosein to the mid-wicket boundary for 55.
Left-arm spinner Hosein took a wicket in each of three successive overs, his career-best 4-30 reducing England to 119-6.
Sam Billings kept them afloat with 41, only for Holder to give England’s seamers a lesson, ending with 5-27 as the tourists were bowled out for 162.
England return to the Caribbean in March for a three-Test series, with a squad due to be named in the coming weeks.
Before then, director of cricket Ashley Giles will submit a report on their Ashes hammering, potentially sparking changes to the management of the England men’s teams.
Holder humbles inexperienced England
While England ultimately lost this game by unravelling at the end of West Indies’ innings, Holder’s achievement in becoming only the fourth man to take four wickets in four balls in a T20 international, on his home ground, was electrifying.
England’s batters got stuck in the chase, a middle-order collapse to Hosein typical of a series when none of the second-string batters made a compelling case to dislodge any of the first-choice players missing after taking part in the Ashes.
As usual, Vince oozed elegance in his second T20 half-century, adding 46 with Moeen Ali, who never matched the fluency of his 63 on Saturday with 14 from 19 balls.
Hosein was held back while Moeen remained, but after the skipper miscued to give Holder his first wicket, Hosein removed Liam Livingstone, Vince and Phil Salt.
England needed 48 from the final three overs, only for Billings and Jordan to take 20 off the 18th, getting the equation down to 20 runs required from six balls.
Curiously, both teams had 160 going into their final over, but the difference was Holder, even if he did start with a no-ball.
Jordan, the man who conceded 19 from West Indies’ final set, skied to the leg-side fence, with Billings and Rashid falling in almost identical fashion.
Hardly anyone inside the Kensington Oval spotted that Mahmood had inside-edged on to his leg stump. When they did, it sparked joyous celebrations. (BBC Sport)
