Righto, Simon Burnton’s report has landed which is my cue to get outta here. The T20I series starts on Friday evening up in Durham, do join us for that. Thanks for your company – goodnight!
The Captains have their say:
Shai Hope:
We’re disappointed and hope to come back stronger.”
“There’s always some positives if we dissect it. There’s a lot of things that we can take from the series and a lot of things that we can improve on. We need to take the positives into the T20 series because we can’t change the past. We need to come out all guns blazing in the T20 series.”
Harry Brook:
The way we started off at Edgbaston was amazing, to get 400 on the board. The win today was awesome, we’ve been talking about being dominant, about being 2-0 up and trying to close out the series. (3-0)
Will Jacks has been mega down the order, Jacob Bethell as well - a match-winning knock at Edgbaston and Jamie Smith tonight, he took the game away from them.”
Joe Root is named Player of the Series:
Eoin Morgan asks him what the secret to his longevity and success is. Root is softly spoken and incredibly modest as per.
More than anything, trying to be consistent in your practice, try to find ways how to get better, try to be one step ahead of what the opposition is thinking - there’s so much data out there. That’s been the key for me.
You try to dovetail with who you’re playing with in the middle. I’ve been very lucky to play with some wonderful players, a lot of the time it’s about getting people on strike and letting them do their business.”
Jamie Smith is Player of the Match
He blitzed 64 off 28 balls to get England’s chase off to a flier.
Being at my home ground, getting the team off to a good start and taking some pressure off people coming in the middle order, that’s the role I want to play.
Being nice and aggressive is how I want to play, it’s not always going to go well. Being really positive but not reckless, it’s nice to get a bit of success.
Ben (Duckett) and I complement each other with how we bat, we missed out in Cardiff, but it was nice to get some runs today.”
England (252-3) win by 7 wickets with 10.2 overs remaining!
Jayden Seales back into the attack and he outfoxes Buttler with a slower ball cutter that thwocks Buttler square in the ribs. That’s gonna smart. Buttler takes a second to get his breath. Seales spears in a bouncer as he saw Buttler on the charge to the next ball, it’s too short though and called a wide.
Six to win… you guessed it – Jos Buttler nails the next ball into the stands for SIX! Clattered over square leg, Buttler and Seales exchange a smile and a back-pat. England win the match and series comfortably.
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29th over: England 239-3 (Brook 26, Buttler 35) Buttler hits a tracer bullet of a drive past mid-off for four. Bottom hand, bat speed and brute power from Jos. SIX! Buttler scoops the next ball over the rope at fine leg. He’s in a hurry now and providing a clinical finish for England. Seven runs needed by England.
28th over: England 228-3 (Brook 26, Buttler 24) Buttler whips Motie away for four through the leg side before the bowler beats him with a beauty that grips and turns quickly off the pitch. A lick of Dulux away.
27th over: England 220-3 (Brook 25, Buttler 17) Buttler nearly chops the returning Shamar Joseph onto his stumps! Instead it misses by a Gnat’s eyebrow and he picks up four. Shamar goes short and Buttler is onto it in warp speed, pulling away dismissively for four! Buttler on the charge here – he tries to macerate a length ball into the stands charging down the wicket but connects only with fresh South London air. Next ball is dropped short again and Buttler swivels away for four more. 15 in total off the over.
England only need 26 more for the series clean sweep.
26th over: England 205-3 (Brook 24, Buttler 3) Motie into his sixth over – he’s gone at more than ten an over this evening but manages to get in and out for just four off this one. England need 41 from 84 balls.
25th over: England 201-3 (Brook 22, Buttler 1) Jos Buttler is the new man. Alzarri spears a full ball in at 90mph and Buttler flicks it into the leg-side for a single as if it ain’t no thang.
WICKET! Joe Root c S Joseph b AS Joseph 44 (England 200-3)
That’s an excellent catch by Shamar Joseph at fine leg. Root tries to get a wriggle on but top edges a pull off an Alzarri Joseph short ball. Shamar had to get his skates on, he put in the dive too and pulled off an athletic grab.
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24th over: England 198-2 (Root 43, Brook 21) Thar he blows! Brook rocks back and uses the depth in crease to launch Motie over cow corner for SIX!
23rd over: England 187-2 (Root 40, Brook 13) Three runs off Alzarri. Surely Brook is going to give it some humpty soon?
22nd over: England 184-2 (Root 39, Brook 12) Motie worked around for just three runs. Thanks for asking - the hair dryer worked a treat actually, crisis averted. I did make a real mezze*.
*Truly sorry.
21st over: England 180-2 (Root 36, Brook 11) You try OBOing with a laptop brimming with grains! Alzarri Joseph bowls a tidy over for just three runs. I think. That’s all your getting – I’m off to get a hair dryer on this situation pronto.
20th over: England 177-2 (Root 35, Brook 10) England happy to accumulate, things have quietened down a bit since Duckett has departed. Not on my sofa though, where I have just spilled misery grains couscous all over laptop keyboard. How very Guardian of me. Qwerty Quinoa. It’s gone into the tiny gaps and everything, this is a nightmare.
19th over: England 172-2 (Root 32, Brook 8) Brook and Root rotate strike, seven runs pocketed off the over with no alarms and no surprises. Can you hear a glockenspiel?
Gary Naylor poses an OBO chin stroker:
“I think Jamie Smith has hit the ball out of the ground at Lord’s and The Oval already in his shortish international career. Does the OBO hive mind know if anyone else has that double on their dance card? I’ve seen Corey Anderson hit it out of Lord’s and Scott Newman hit it out of The Oval, but it doesn’t happen often.”
Chris Gayle swiped one into the Harleyford Road during the World Cup in 2009. Maybe he deposited one into St John’s Wood High St too? Other than that I’m not sure – Victor Trumper? I didn’t see him in the flesh mind…
18th over: England 165-2 (Root 27, Brook 6) Roston Chase rattles through a quick over that goes for just three runs. Dare say his dropped catch off Brook will cost his side a few more than that.
17th over: England 162-2 (Root 25, Brook 5) Harry Brook makes The Oval swoon with a sumptuous on drive for four off his first ball! There’s then a quieter groan as West Indies fans realise that Roston Chase has dropped him at backward point from the very next ball. Slapped in the air… into the midriff and back out again. Eventful over, goes for seven runs. Brook lucky to still be out there, I make that three drops now from the visitors.
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16th over: England 155-2 (Root 23, Brook 0) Harry Brook replaces Duckett. England’s new captain has been a bit frenetic at the crease of late, it’d be nice for him to knock these off and be there at the end.
WICKET! Ben Duckett c Lewis b Chase 58 (England 155-2)
From nowhere! Ben Duckett plinks Roston Chase straight to extra cover. He curses as he departs, he would have fancied three figures.
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15th over: England 154-1 (Root 22, Duckett 58) Jayden Seales returns to the fray as The Oval is bathed in evening sunlight. I’ll start quoting verse soon. A quiet over, just three singles. England in command – they need 92 from 25 overs. West Indies need wickets, nine of ‘em.
14th over: England 151-1 (Root 20, Duckett 57) West Indies just can’t build any pressure, if they aren’t being hit for boundaries they are being milked for ones and twos. A single to long on takes Joe Root to 21,000 international runs. We are watching a true great of the game.
13th over: England 145-1 (Root 16, Duckett 55) At the same stage in their innings West Indies were 72-3. Duckett is ticking – kaboom! Three fours in the over off Motie, two sweeps and a slap past point take the pint sized and pugilistic opener to fifty off just 34 balls. England in a hurry, they probably want to beat the traffic. Ahem.
Thanks Taha – let me just park my Lime bike… and good to go. England are coasting this, or freewheelin’ if you will.
12th over: England 131-1 (Root 15, Duckett 42) Roston Chase’s tweakers are knocked around but not dispatched – four off the over. England don’t need to do anything risky. That’s all from me, with Jim Wallace back to take you through.
11th over: England 127-1 (Root 12, Duckett 41) Motie returns and Root reverse-sweeps what was a perfectly decent delivery away for four.
10th over: England 121-1 (Root 7, Duckett 40) Duckett is happy to keep pulling Alzarri Joseph, working away another six. He’s been the quieter opener … and still finds himself on 40 after 26 balls.
9th over: England 112-1 (Root 5, Duckett 33) Shamar Joseph is back to replace Motie after that one wildly fluctuating over, and the quick has Duckett clipping aerially … but the ball lands safely on the leg side. Another clip stays low and finds the boundary; in trying to restrict Duckett’s cut Joseph’s gone too straight.
8th over: England 100-1 (Root 5, Duckett 21) Joy for West Indies as the dangerous Smith is replaced by, oh, Joe Root. Fresh off Sunday’s unbeaten 166, he’s already on five off four as England reach 100 in eight overs.
Half-century for Smith ... and out!
Another drop, ugh. Gudakesh Motie is clipped to midwicket by Smith but Greaves fails to catch it. Then comes the punishment: four, six, four, six, Smith absolutely monstering Motie’s left-arm tweak, his half-century coming off just 25 balls. But Motie has the wicket at the end of the over, beating another heavy swing to rattle the stumps. Nonetheless, what a knock.
WICKET! Smith b Motie 64 (England 93-1)
7th over: England 93-1 (Duckett 19)
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6th over: England 73-0 (Smith 44, Duckett 19) Duckett gets lucky after Alzarri Joseph arrives; a pull shot finds an edge, the ball flying over the keeper’s head for six. The next shot is remarkable; Duckett, with one hand coming off the bat, swings Joseph around the leg-side corner for six more. And then a drop! Duckett plays to the same area where Sherfane Rutherford makes the ground but can’t hold on, the ball popping out of the hands and finding the boundary. A rough start for Alzarri Joseph.
5th over: England 55-0 (Smith 43, Duckett 3) Smith, on his home ground, peppers Seales for back-to-back leg-side boundaries, but the cherry on top is a hook for six that sees the ball disappear, bouncing into the stands before hopping over and out of view. This is severe stuff.
4th over: England 39-0 (Smith 27, Duckett 3) Smith is in a hurry, punching, clipping, seizing upon Shamar Joseph’s looseness. A front-foot no ball leads to a free hit, but Smith can’t middle a leg-side thwack. Duckett is quiet at the other end as Joseph thunders in a bouncer to finish.
3rd over: England 28-0 (Smith 18, Duckett 2) Smith is showing the power that has granted him this promotion to the top; he clunks Seales for his fourth boundary, England already racing in the reply.
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2nd over: England 21-0 (Smith 12, Duckett 1) Shamar Joseph gets the ball to hoop a little too much, the ball swinging down the leg side and away to the ropes. Duckett finds a gap in a packed off side to collect a single and get off the mark. Smith ends the over with a powerful aerial clip to the midwicket boundary.
1st over: England 9-0 (Smith 8, Duckett 0) The reply begins with Jayden Seales up against Jamie Smith, with an adjusted target of 246. How does DLS work? Nobody knows. Smith collects four with a fortunate inside-edge, and has another boundary to close the over.
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Of course, the most bizarre moment of the innings was Motie’s cut shot striking a pigeon. It did make a recovery, prompting our very own Philip Cornwall to send this in.
It was looking pretty one-sided until Motie and Alzarri Joseph resurrected West Indies with a 91-run stand from 11.2 overs. Sherfane Rutherford contributed a classy 70 and England got a bit too excited with the short stuff. Mahmood, Potts and Carse picked up two apiece, while Rashid nabbed three.
West Indies finish on 251-9 after 40 overs
Joseph takes two balls to get Motie back on strike – time for some proper, meaty swings. A Potts yorker is guided wonderfully by Motie through the gap behind square, and they decide to run three; Joseph fancies a hit. He swats away for one before Potts goes short to collect a dot. A slower ball from Potts rattles leg stump so there’s no red-inker for Motie – but he’s done a terrific job with a 54-ball 63.
39th over: West Indies 246-8 (S Joseph 1, Motie 60) Shamar Joseph replaces his namesake and claims the strike for the final over.
WICKET! A Joseph c Potts b Mahmood 41 (West Indies 245-8)
A beautiful connection: Joseph sends Mahmood’s slot ball over deep midwicket for six more. But this wonderful 91-run partnership is finally over – Joseph tries to pummel a slower ball but it lobs up for Potts, running back at short third, to claim.
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38th over: West Indies 238-7 (A Joseph 35, Motie 59) Motie hammers another six. It’s another short ball clattered, Carse thumped over deep midwicket for six. Carse responds with another bumper and Motie, swish-swashing, gets out of the way. When Carse goes fuller, Motie collects an easy single. Joseph will surely get bouncer-treatment, every leg-side fielder by the rope – no, it’s the surprise fuller ball that evades Joseph’s swing and the stumps. A top-edge brings Joseph four to close another productive over for West Indies.
Half-century for Motie!
37th over: West Indies 227-7 (A Joseph 31, Motie 51) Motie wants two to claim his 50 but Joseph opts for one – a fatal mix-up is avoided. A clip into the leg side off Bethell brings Motie that desired half-century, his second in ODIs. It’s come off just 45 balls and when his side were in serious trouble.
36th over: West Indies 221-7 (A Joseph 29, Motie 48) Motie’s motoring and making Potts angry. Another four prompts a fierce bumper from the Durham quick and evasive action. Motie ends the over angry with himself, unable to swish away a short ball outside off.
35th over: West Indies 216-7 (A Joseph 28, Motie 44) Rashid returns and Motie, playing more and more like a proper middle-order man, sweeps the leg-spinner for four. Rashid finishes with impressive figures of 3-40 despite not being at his best.
34th over: West Indies 210-7 (A Joseph 28, Motie 38) Another wallop – this time it’s Joseph launching Jacks into the second tier of the pavilion. West Indies have 200, the run rate climbing past six an over. We may have a proper game on here as Joseph swings Jacks over the leg side for four.
33rd over: West Indies 195-7 (A Joseph 15, Motie 37) Saqib Mahmood is back for the final powerplay in this reduced contest and Motie wallops him down the ground for six! The left-hander made some room, hopping to the leg side to lift the short ball over the ropes. He ends the over on 37 off just 29 balls, this cameo turning into something substantial.
32nd over: West Indies 186-7 (A Joseph 14, Motie 29) Jacob Bethell gets a go and his first ball is pumped down the ground by Joseph for another boundary. These left-arm spinners are very tidy but I’m still not sure Bethell falls in the all-rounder category.
31st over: West Indies 178-7 (A Joseph 9, Motie 26) Alzarri Joseph’s eyes light up against Jacks, a hearty swing bringing the fast bowler a straight four.
30th over: West Indies 172-7 (A Joseph 4, Motie 25) This is turning into a decent hand from Motie as he punches Carse down the ground for four, with no mid-off in position. There’s no mid-on either as Motie swats a short ball over the bowler’s head for another boundary. The West Indies No 8 is enjoying Harry Brook’s funky field settings.
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29th over: West Indies 162-7 (A Joseph 4, Motie 16) A sad sight as Gudakesh Motie cuts hard and the ball strikes a pigeon – it looks in trouble as Matt Potts inspects, but recovers to fly away and earn the adulation of south London. Go on my son.
28th over: West Indies 158-7 (A Joseph 4, Motie 13) Carse gets the bumper going against Alzarri Joseph, with a short leg in position. The towering West Indies quick responds with a punch behind point for four.
WICKET! Rutherford c Brook b Carse 70 (West Indies 154-7)
The pressure builds and tells. Rutherford tries to pull hard against the returning Carse but the a miscue brings Harry Brook into play at mid-on – England’s captain leaps to his right and holds on. A fine innings comes to a close.
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27th over: West Indies 153-6 (Rutherford 70, Motie 12) England’s spinners have brought a period of quiet, with Rashid bowling another economical over.
26th over: West Indies 151-6 (Rutherford 69, Motie 11) Jacks runs through his set of off-breaks quickly.
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25th over: West Indies 148-6 (Rutherford 67, Motie 11) Bethell, not for the first time today, makes a decent stop at backward point but Rutherford isn’t denied for long – he drives the next ball from Potts through the covers for four. The sun pokes out at the end of the over.
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24th over: West Indies 141-6 (Rutherford 61, Motie 10) Rutherford pushes a Rashid delivery into the off side for one before Motie cuts late and fine to finish the over with a boundary.
23rd over: West Indies 136-6 (Rutherford 60, Motie 6) Brydon Carse tries to take a screamer as Rutherford flicks Potts powerfully over the leg side, but the 29-year-old can only get fingers on it after sprinting towards deep backward square – the southpaw gets six. It’s all on Rutherford now, West Indies having gifted those two wickets to Rashid.
22nd over: West Indies 128-6 (Rutherford 53, Motie 6) The hat-trick ball is, admittedly, dreadful – Rashid drags it down and Gudakesh Motie responds with a wallop over deep midwicket for six.
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WICKET! Chase c Root b Rashid 0 (West Indies 121-6)
Rashid is on a hat-trick! Chase comes and goes, pushing at a length ball outside off, the outside-edge flying to Joe Root, who juggles before safely holding on.
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WICKET! Greaves c Duckett b Rashid 12 (West Indies 121-5)
Rashid begins with a leg side-wide, the quicker delivery gone slightly wrong. Then comes the breakthrough, Ben Duckett holding on brilliantly at midwicket! Greaves whips away Rashid but can’t keep the ball on the carpet, and Duckett moves low to his left to hold on. Duckett had a tough time in the field at Sophia Gardens but gets this one right.
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21st over: West Indies 120-4 (Rutherford 53, Greaves 12) Matt Potts returns with his bustling seamers, but Rutherford remains comfortable, driving elegantly through the offside for a single. Greaves gets in on the fun with a thump through extra cover for four.
Fifty for Rutherford!
20th over: West Indies 112-4 (Rutherford 51, Greaves 6) A single off Rashid brings Rutherford his half-century. This is just his 11th ODI innings and he’s reached 50 on seven occasions.
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19th over: West Indies 108-4 (Rutherford 49, Greaves 4) Jacks gets the ball to turn and bounce but Rutherford still manages to guide the ball to the third-man boundary. A cut for four more ends the over; Rutherford’s very watchable at the moment.
18th over: West Indies 97-4 (Rutherford 41, Greaves 1) Justin Greaves joins Rutherford, who pulls away a sort-of drag down from Rashid away to the ropes.
WICKET! Carty b Rashid 29 (West Indies 90-4)
It’s a poorly executed shot by Carty. Rashid tosses up the ball well outside off, a tad too full, inviting the big, hoofing drive. But the right-hander gets an inside-edge and the bails light up.
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17th over: West Indies 90-3 (Rutherford 35, Carty 29) Jacks skips in from the Vauxhall End and has mid-on, Jacob Bethell, up against Rutherford, a way to tempt the southpaw. It nearly works as Rutherford swings hard but mistimes his hit, the ball dropping just short of the diving Bethell.
16th over: West Indies 87-3 (Rutherford 35, Carty 26) We’re back, baby. Adil Rashid is in for a twirl and immediately shows his control, a tossed-up leggie spinning past Carty’s swish outside off. Rutherford and Carty run the singles, collecting four off the over.
The England players have run through their bowling warmups and it’s looking a little less grey out there. Let’s hope the rain never comes.
Match reduced to 40 overs per side
Hello, hello, hello. They’ve got the IPL final playing on the Oval big screens but there’s been a different show in the press box; Wisden’s Ben Gardner was tuning into a T20 between Wales National County and Gloucestershire. Niche. Anywho, this game’s now 40 overs a side.
Play will resume at 4.20pm
If. Big If – there is no more rain. It is brighter than it was. I’m skedaddling to do the nursery run but will be back this evening if the game goes late. Taha Hashim is greasing his knuckles and sidling into the OBO armchair. Thanks for your company and comments, ta-ra!
Stand by your beds, the covers have come off. Martin Saggers is out there with his pink umpire’s flak jacket, umbrella in hand and poking the pitch with gusto. No word yet on a re-start time but signs of life here at The Oval.
Weather-watch! It is brightening up here at The Oval and there’s a flurry of movement from the groundstaff, they are peeling off the outer covers.
Oh ye of little faith (he says as he unpacks his bag…)
More as we get it.
The weather radar doesn’t look very good I’m afraid. With the late start we are also losing overs as we speak. Maybe they’ll get back out for a truncated game later but they ain’t taking those tarps off any time soon.
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Still raining here at The Oval and even more covers are being hauled on. We might have a sizeable delay here I’m afraid.
Rain stops play
It’s been threatening for a while and now the wet stuff has landed in South London. The big sheets are being dragged on here at The Oval, it looks a bit grim out there currently.
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15th over: West Indies 82-3 (Carty 24, Rutherford 32) Brook does indeed shuffle his deck and Will Jacks comes on for a twirl. There’s a leg slip in place and a man on the ’45. Jacks is resolutely outside off stump though, Rutherford nudges a single and Carty punches for one more down the ground. Just two off it and time for a slurp of electrolytes (the players) and a big fat shot of Kenco (me). DRINKS.
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14th over: West Indies 80-3 (Carty 23, Rutherford 31) Hold the pose! Rutherford leans on a full ball and picks up a sublime four down the ground off Mahmood. Shot of the day for mine. Might be time to switch things up, Mr Brook?
13th over: West Indies 73-3 (Carty 23, Rutherford 24) Carse once more, around the wicket to southpaw Rutherford. He’s in the mid 80smph on the speedgun which is no mean feat considering it looks like November in the Baltics out of the press box window here at The Oval. Just four runs off it as both sides size each other up.
12th over: West Indies 69-3 (Carty 21, Rutherford 22) Mahmood continues. Carty shonks a drive but gets enough on it to beat the fielder and pick up four.
“Does Mahmood have what it takes - in your esteemed opinion - to make the grade in red ball cricket?” Asks Mike Jakeman.
“Obviously Potts and Carse have shown promise in their outings, without making themselves indispensable like Atkinson. I haven’t seen much of Mahmood though.”
Well, I knoorr nuthin’ Mike Jakeman but my two penneth is that Mahmood definitely has the attributes to be a success in Test cricket, he’s fast, accurate and a very clever bowler. The thing is he has had terrible injury problems, stress fractures of the back that are so common in fast bowler’s and very hard to come back from. The intense workload required in Test cricket would be a constant concern. I wouldn’t rule it out though, England need all the bowler’s they can get their hands on for the summer and you-know-what this winter.
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11th over: West Indies 64-3 (Carty 16, Rutherford 22) Carse into his fourth over, he’s looked a little less potent today. Five runs collected from the over and no dramas.
10th over: West Indies 59-3 (Carty 11, Rutherford 22) Potts offers width and is lashed by Carty to the fence at cover point. Carty then picks up three with an airy drive that Harry Brook does well to claw in from the boundary sponge. Gah. Potts is too straight and flicked away for four to end the over and the powerplay. England on top but this pair rebuilding nicely.
9th over: West Indies 48-3 (Carty 4, Rutherford 18) Carse is too full and Rutherford doesn’t miss out, driving through cover for four. SIXAH! (adopts Mark Nicholas voice) a short ball is hooked for a big one into the crowd by Rutherford, the breeze helped but that ended up ten rows back.
8th over: West Indies 37-3 (Carty 3, Rutherford 8) Potts continues, muscular derrière straining against his britches, a fast bowler’s behind that would make Fred Trueman and Jilly Cooper happy. Pardon? Just a Keacy Carty poked single into the leg side off the over.
7th over: West Indies 37-3 (Carty 3, Rutherford 8) Sherfane Rutherford replaces his captain after that seconds long stay at the crease. Ping! A cover drive whistles to the fence to get Rutherford going and then he follows up with a rasping back foot punch for four more. West Indies need this pair to stay for a good time and a long time.
WICKET! Shai Hope c Carse b Mahmood 0 (West Indies 28-3)
Oh no! Why would you do that Shai Hope!? A short ball from Mahmood is shonked on the hook straight down Carse’s throat on the square leg boundary. This could get nasty for West Indies.
6th over: West Indies 27-2 (Carty 1, Hope 0) West Indies Captain Shai Hope arrives in the middle…
WICKET! Brandon King c Bethell b Potts 16 (West Indies 27-2)
Matthew Potts replaces Brydon Carse. Hello Gruesome! Brandon King greets his first ball with a drive on the up down the ground for four! Potts has the last laugh though – and a needley little send off to boot – King forces in the air straight to Bethell at point. Windies two down for not many!
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5th over: West Indies 21-0 (King 11, Carty 0) England bowling some *tight lines* (vision dreams of passion) just the one single off Mahmood as King flicks off his pads to fine leg.
4th over: West Indies 20-0 (King 10, Carty 0) Impressive wicket maiden from Carse. Keacy Carty is the new batter and he blocks out the final delivery. His century on Sunday was somewhat overshadowed by Joe Root’s but, like the latter, was full of sublime stroke-play
WICKET! Evin Lewis c Smith b Carse 8 (West Indies 20-1)
Pulled away in the air and caught! Jamie Smith takes a sharp chance at midwicket and Lewis is on his way.
3rd over: West Indies 20-0 (King 8, Lewis 10) King plinks Mahmood down the ground for a couple before connecting with the next full ball and lofting for four over cover.
2nd over: West Indies 14-0 (King 4, Lewis 8) Brydon Carse from the Pavilion End. Lewis latches on to a ball outside off and carves for four before pouncing on another bumper and pulling away through the leg-side for an emphatic once bounce boundary. He looks in fine fettle in his first game back from injury and no doubt has fond memories of this ground – he racked up 176 here in 2017 albeit in a match that England went on to squeak on Duckworth Lewis.
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Our man Simon Burnton has the travel gossip:
“I got off the tube at Oval and as I emerged Joe Root and Adil Rashid walked past. West Indies might not have turned up until 12.40pm after the coach got stuck in traffic on its 3.5-mile journey from their Chelsea hotel but England didn’t beat them by much, and even then only after resorting to unusual measures: their coach also got caught in the chaos and sat still for so long that all the players abandoned it - some came the rest of the way by tube, some by Lime bike, and some by foot. Anyway, the only thing that still hasn’t arrived is the rain, and that looks imminent...”
1st over: West Indies 3-0 (King 1, Lewis 0) A quiet over to start with, Mahmood gets some decent bounce and carry off the pitch but slams down two wides to get West Indies going. King then takes a quick single that was drenched in risk – there’s a shy at the stumps but it missed by a fair way, it think Lewis was struggling to make his ground too. All eyes on England’s fielding today, not the best start so far.
Apologies I didn’t post the teams after the toss. England are unchanged from Cardiff. West Indies have made three changes – Shamar Joseph, Sherfane Rutherford and Evin Lewis for Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer and Jewel Andrew.
England: 1 Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook (c), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Matthew Potts, 11 Saqib Mahmood
West Indies: 1 Brandon King, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Shai Hope (c & wk), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Justin Greaves, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Jayden Seales, 11 Shamar Joseph
Here come the players. A stiff breeze flapping the player’s shirts. Thankfully no rain falling though. Yet. Saqib Mahmood is going to start for England. Brandon King and Evan Lewis opening for West Indies. PLAY!
England’s players got their Timmy Chalamet on for their commute to the ground. Begs the question, do they have a joint ECB account with associated perks or do they all have to do the Lime bike dance individually? Park properly, take the photo, upload the photo.
My money is on Joe Root parking very precisely and neatly in a designated bay and maybe Brydon Carse leaving his back wheel in the way of pedestrians. What’s in his basket*?
*A pair of boots? A couple of energy drinks? Gwyneth Paltrow’s head?
Arriving at the ground in style 😎
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 3, 2025
Only one way to beat the road closures in London 😂 pic.twitter.com/2xrSPypnQD
England win the toss and will BOWL first
Harry Brook inserts the visitors upon getting the call of the coin. No surprises there with grey clouds lingering in South London.
“If this was in our village league, West Indies would be conceding the toss and losing one over of batting per 3.5 minutes after the start time that they weren’t ready to play. Presumably it’s similar in ODIs?” Phil Russell takes no prisoners. Terrifying.
“I’m not superstitious but I’d be worried if I were an Australian cricket fan.” Writes Charlie Tinsley.
“Given how their batsmen react to a bail being rotated at the end of an over, this must be sending shockwaves through the home dressing room...”
That is some sardine. Creepy. We’ll take anything to help us out Down Under this winter I reckon – A maiden Joe Root Test ton in Australia, Jofra Archer fit and raring, a MASSIVE apocalyptic fish…
Go on then, sling us your tales of when you’ve been woefully late for an important occasion. I don’t want any wedding jilters, ideally, but everything else is fair game.
Toss at 1pm - the match is due to start at 1.30pm
That’s if the rain stays away, it’s greyer than Gandalf on a hangover at The Oval at the minute.
Meanwhile… Ashes fever building Down Under:
Updated
England’s players are doing their keepy-uppies on the outfield, it is gloomy but crucially not raining at the moment.
You’ve got to feel for West Indies, we’ve all been there - arriving sweaty, harangued and late to an important date. Word is that they’ve now arrived at the ground. A quick check of Google maps suggests there were some snarl ups around central London, Kensington looked particularly nasty or maybe Shai Hope left his Oyster card in his hotel room?
Play delayed by... traffic
It isn’t the weather that is delaying the start here at The Oval but good old London traffic. It looks like West Indies didn’t do what any Londoner worth their salt does, the old ‘give yourself an hour at least to get anywhere’.
An ECB note pings around the press box:
“Due to a delayed arrival of one of the playing teams, who are stuck in heavy traffic north of the river, the scheduled start of play will be delayed.
Once all members of the playing teams arrive, the match officials will coordinate updated timings and discuss any impact on the schedule of play.
We will update spectators with the schedule of play as soon as we are able to.”
Updated
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the third and final ODI of the series between England and West Indies from The Oval.
Harry Brook’s England side are sitting pretty having secured the series already, largely thanks to one of the most sublime fifty over centuries you are ever likely to see courtesy of Joseph Edward Root.
Sophia Gardens shimmered under Root’s batting spell on Sunday, 166 runs of the highest order as England chased down 308 runs without really getting a bead on. Don’t just take my word for it, Jonny Liew felt compelled to dip his quill about what he calls Root’s “greatest white ball innings.”
The winning moment is perfect. Perfect in concept, in balance, in execution, in placement, in flourish. The ball disappears through mid-on, and before it has even reached the boundary the lid is off and the smile is unsheathed, and for some reason it matters a great deal that the stroke to complete a towering one-day chase of 309 is not a wallop or a swipe, but an artful on-drive for four.”
The series may be in the bag but Captain Brook has spoken a lot about wanting his side to be ‘ruthless’, he’ll want his side to make it a clean sweep in the ODI series before the T20 portion of West Indies’ tour gets underway in Durham on Friday.
Also – whisper it - but England’s fielding also left a lot to be desired on Sunday, dropped catches, fluffed run outs and mis-fields in the deep showed they still have plenty of work to do before they become slicker than a Brylcreem’d BP salesman and transform into a well drilled winning machine.
Shai Hope’s side put up a much better display in Wales than the first game capitulation in Birmingham, Keacy Carty continued his excellent form to rack up his fourth ODI century and they’ll be desperate to get a win under their belts on this tour.
Play is due to get underway at 1pm but there is some weather around here at The Oval, fingers crossed the grey clouds lift and we get a game in. As ever, drop us a line if you are tuning in.
