West Indies v England T20I: Holder’s magical four-for, King’s royal 50 push West Indies past England

By Brandon Corlette in Barbados

Ecstatic fans at the electrifying Kensington Oval watched West Indies register a comprehensive win against England in the first of five T20 International matches in Bridgetown, Barbados.
In the nine-wicket win, Jason Holder’s career-best 4 for 7 and Brandon King’s unbeaten 52 sealed the deal for West Indies with 17 balls to spare.

The men in maroon completed the chase of 104 in 17.1 overs. Openers King and Shai Hope cruised in the chase, adding that calmness and class. King got his innings going with a leg-glance, while Hope played a smooth pull-shot through mid-on to get his first boundary. The home team reached the 50 partnership inside nine overs, with King at that stage on 27 from 30 and Hope on 20 from 24 setting the platform in the small chase.

Rashid drew Hope on the front foot with a beauty that spun sharp and resulted in Hope being stumped for 20, ending the 52-run partnership.
Nicholas Pooran then joined King, and the duo added 52 unbroken runs together.
King ended on 52 from 49 balls, which was decorated with four boundaries and one six. Pooran made a supportive 27 from 29 balls, with two fours. In a small chase, only one six was struck by the West Indies.

Holder’s magic
Earlier, on a fresh Kensington surface, West Indies won the toss and elected to bowl first. They rocked England to 103 all out in 19.4 overs. The returning Sheldon Cottrell, who last played a T20I in July 2021, was slammed for a six, but with the next ball sent Jason Roy’s stumps packing.

Home boy Holder got his magic going when he found himself on a hat-trick, peeling the edge of Tom Banton and getting one to shape, and forcing Moeen Ali into a loose drive. At 10-3, things quickly went downhill, as both Cottrell and Holder produced back-to-back maidens.
In the fifth over, the elegant James Vince got a long-hop, but picked out Darren Bravo at short cover. The score was then 24-4.
Sam Billings then looked to use his feet, but he kept dancing towards the pavilion, when he ran past a delivery from Akeal Hosein and took the score to 29-5.

With the Kensington Oval crowd abuzz, Liam Dawson had a suicidal run-out as West Indies continued to run riot against England. Skipper Eion Morgan struck a six off Romario Shepherd, but fell afterwards in a plot that saw England batsmen hitting sixes and getting out throughout the match.
Morgan threw his arm to an off-cutter from Shepherd and found Pollard at cover. Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan joined forces at 49-7, and at that stage England were looking down the barrel of being rocked below 100.
However, hometown boy Jordan added 28 quick runs, which had three sixes in his 23 balls. His knock concluded when Fabian Allen tossed one up, and Jordan found long-off.
Despite Rashid scoring 23 runs, Holder came and added the finishing touches. He found himself on a hat-trick again, removing Saqib Mahmood and Rashid in successive balls. Rashid made 22 from 18 balls, which had three fours, but Holder sent his leg-stump packing. Holder had career-best figures of 4-7 in four overs.
This win would give the West Indies a great deal of confidence, while England would want to roar back in the next match, which is set for today: Sunday January 23 from 16:00h Eastern Caribbean time.