England beat West Indies to win T20 series with match to spare

England sealed a series win over West Indies with a game to spare after a superb chase of 197 in the second T20 at Bristol.

Former captain Jos Buttler struck 47 and his successor Harry Brook made 34 as England reached 112-2 in 12.2 overs, before they fell in consecutive overs with 85 still required to swing the game back in the tourists’ favour.

But Jacob Bethell’s stunning cameo of 26 from 10 balls, including three huge sixes, and Tom Banton’s unbeaten 30 off 11 set up a four-wicket win with nine balls remaining.

England had earlier been eyeing a much smaller target as they had restricted West Indies to 121-4 at the start of the 17th over, only for an onslaught of 75 runs from the final four overs to follow.

Luke Wood had given England the perfect start by pinning Evin Lewis lbw with a swinging yorker from the first ball of the match, before captain Shai Hope’s elegant 49 led the recovery in a stand of 90 with Johnson Charles, who made 47.

Their innings had been in danger of floundering with just 32 runs scored in 5.1 overs after Hope’s dismissal in the 11th, but Rovman Powell clubbed 34 from 15 balls and former skipper Jason Holder whacked an unbeaten 29 off nine.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid bowled the penultimate over as England again only selected two seamers, and conceded 31 runs to finish with 1-59 – the most expensive figures of his T20 career. (BBC)