Betway T20I series: 3rd match: West Indies, England ready to set Kensington Oval on fire
…Jason Holder aiming for consistency
By Brandon Corlette in Barbados
Two absolutely scintillating contests have already taken place in the Betway T20I series between England and the West Indies, being played at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. The series is set at 1-1, and today, Wednesday January 26, these determined contestants will continue to battle for supremacy from 16:00h Eastern Caribbean time.
West Indies are confident heading into the third match
Brimming with confidence after his exploits with the ball in claiming six wickets thus far, all-rounder Jason Holder is calling for consistency from the West Indies players as this battle against England continues.
Chris Jordan, at home, has enjoyed his time with the bat so far
The former captain has also spoken about the experience he is passing on to the young
ones in the group.
Jason Roy and Moeen Ali have “scored some runs” on tour so far
“I just try to give anything to the team that I think will benefit us. We have a relatively inexperienced group, so I just try to help out as much as I can and give what advice I can give. I don’t think it’s a situation where I have to give too much information, because that becomes clouded for individuals; so, I keep it as simple as possible. Anything I pick up, I pass it on to the captain, and then obviously to individual players, but I think my role is just to help guide and nurture the young talent that we have,” Holder explained.
England would want to find that winning mojo
Speaking about his resolve to see his team emerge victorious, Holder has said he is focused on the third match in this T20I series, and the others will follow.
“I’m just focused on what’s ahead tomorrow,” he said. “Tomorrow is our next encounter, so there’s no point in looking at the last three matches before we get to the one tomorrow,” he said.
Jason Holder has taken six wickets so far
In the second T20I, the West Indies had registered a pedestrian performance in the field. Holder has said: “I don’t think we were good enough in the field in the last encounter, and that probably hurt us in the end.”
The beautiful Kensington Oval remains limited to 50% capacity due to COVID restrictions, but that has done little to dampen the party atmosphere in the stands. Mild temperatures in the mid-20s Celsius are forecast for the start of the match, as is a 40% chance of rain, with cloud cover increasing throughout the evening.
England’s preference for these fixtures has been to bat first, in order to gain some experience in defending under the lights. This was particularly evident in the first match, which was played on a central strip. A fresh pitch is in the prospect for the third game. That surface was used in the warm-up wherein Jason Roy scored a century against a BCA XI.
For England, the death-bowling would be under the microscope. “We are! We’re just getting it wrong,” said England captain Eoin Morgan when asked why his side wasn’t trying to bowl yorkers.
England T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tymal Mills, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince, Harry Brook.
West Indies T20I squad: Kieron Pollard (capt), Nicholas Pooran (vice- captain), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Jason Holder, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr.
