Jason Holder took four wickets off the last four balls, putting England in a seventeen-run loss in the decisive Twenty20 and granting West Indies a 3-2 series victory on Barbados.
With England scoring 20 in the final over, The Barbadian Holder could get Sam Billings, Chris Jordan, and Adil Rashid caught off the leg-side boundary and then bowled Saqib Mahmood.
West Indies earlier overcame being defeated by England’s spinners to take advantage of poor death bowling during their 179-4 win.
Rovman Powell smashed 35 not out of 17 balls, and captain Kieron Pollard backed him with an undefeated 41.
James Vince looked to be carrying England in the chase, but he was a crucial top-edged Akeal Hosein over the mid-wicket line for 55.
Spinner with left arm Hosein picked up a wicket in three consecutive innings, with his 4-30 reducing England by 119-6.
Sam Billings kept them on the right track with 41.
Only Holder taught England’s seamers an education, finishing with 5-27 before the visitors were defeated by 162.
England Return to the Caribbean in March for three tests and a squad is expected to be announced in the next few weeks.
Before that, the Director of Cricket Ashley Giles will submit a report on the Ashes beating, leading to changes in the management of England men’s team.
Inexperience England humbles Holder.
While England ended up losing this match because they failed to get the ball after the final West Indies’ innings, the feat of former captain Holder in becoming only the fourth player to score four wickets over four balls in a T20 international match at his home turf it was awe-inspiring.
England’s batters were stuck in the chase. They suffered a middle-order collapse Hosein the typical pattern of a series where no second-string players offered a compelling argument to get rid of one who was first not playing after participating during the Ashes.
Like every other time, Vince oozed elegance in his second T20 half-century and added 46 runs with Moeen Ali. Ali could never match his 63 on the fourth match of Saturday with only 14 off 19 balls.
Hosein was kept behind as Moeen continued, but when the England skipper erred in giving Holder his debut wicket, Hosein removed Liam Livingstone, Vince, and Phil Salt.
England needed 48 runs from the last three overs to allow Billings and Jordan to get twenty off on the 18th, giving tourists a glimpse of optimism.
The odd thing is that both teams scored 160 into the final over; however, the distinction was Holder, although Holder did begin with zero balls.
Jordan The man who conceded 19 points from West Indies’ final set was able to ski across the fence on the leg side, and Billings and Rashid skied similarly.
No one in the Kensington Oval spotted that Mahmood was inside-edged to his leg stump. The moment they noticed it, it was a cause for celebrations.
Windies”innings of three thirds
It was an exciting inning for West Indies, thanks mainly to the difference in quality between England’s spin and pace bowling.
The hosts powered through the powerplay drifted through the middle, but they exploded at the conclusion.
They got 58 off in the initial six, 47 off the next nine, and 74 off the last five.
The initial charge was spearheaded by Kyle Mayers, who whipped nearly all of his 31 balls through on the leg.
A stunning relay catch then wiped out the batsman at the boundary, which was Jason Roy nonchalantly offloading from the deep mid-wicket area to the long-on Salt to give the skilled Rashid an early wicket.
Four scalps for England were split between the leg-spin bowlers of Rashid and Livingstone when England took the brakes throughout nine overs which only one of them was bowled by the pace bowler.
At one time, West Indies went 42 balls in between boundaries, with the momentum eventually being provided by Powell, who, despite scoring an incredible 100 in the final game of this series, was left at the number six position and was not able to reach the wicket at fifteenth over.
He smashed four sixes from a long-standing position as England began to speed up after the finish, and the skipper Pollard was right behind him in his slipstream.
Overall, England’s spin team scored 454 runs from just ten overs, and their pace counterparts were without wickets and escaped around 122 runs from the same number.
“This is Jason Holder’s hometown.’
England Captain Moeen Ali says “West Indies was the most successful team. We couldn’t adjust to the circumstances, and we didn’t do enough.
“We are trying to improve our death bowling; however, I wasn’t sure that we did too badly today. We’ll get better as the time gets longer. They were more intelligent than we today when it came to bats and balls.
“West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard: “Every single person in the dressing room, congratulations to every one of them. Jason Holder’s stadium is the place he calls home; however, it was total teamwork from us. The players were incredibly hard-working throughout the game. “
Jason Holder was the man of the match. Holder “It has been a fantastic conclusion. It was not the ideal start for us, but we did our best to keep the ball in play.
“I’m super excited to be here at present, and I am a huge fan of being in the Kensington Oval. It’s one of the best places on earth for cricket. “
