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England 209 (Livingstone 48, Moti 4-41) vs west indies
In a new-look England team that included four debutants, it was a familiar foe that dashed their hopes of a competitive total in the first ODI in Antigua.
After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, England’s innings was characterized by timid submission, reminiscent of their poor performance at the 2023 World Cup, interspersed with moments of frustration, with most of their wickets being misjudged. Fell because of. inner ring.
West Indies bowled well from the start, especially Seales, who had gone wicketless on the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this month by dismissing both England openers inside his first five overs. Matthew Ford’s lack of extreme speed was hardly less effective on the receiving surface, providing grip and bounce to his cutters, and although Alzarri Joseph was expensive in his early spell – not helped by some loose work in the outfield – he played well. The comeback in kind took two late wickets, as well as a pinpoint bouncer that bounced off Jofra Archer (a sight his batsmen would not have appreciated).
England’s lack of familiarity with the rhythm of 50-over cricket was clearly visible in their performance, with each of the top four falling for scores between 17 and 27, and none of them having a strike-rate faster than 82. Wasn’t.
The first to fall was Phil Salt, whose thump through cover on the third ball was not a harbinger of wealth on a particularly sluggish outfield, adding to the feeling of an innings with no pace. On 18 off 29 balls, Salt drove with a toe through Seals’ line, and was caught well by Joseph running back into cover, as his innings ended in a powerplay for the 18th time in 23 ODIs. Ended up inside.
Will Jacks, promoted to opener in the absence of Ben Duckett and the injured Jos Buttler, played an almost identical innings of 19 off 27, eventually attempting to launch Moti off Seales at mid-on. Jordan Cox projected confidence at No. 3 in the first task of his extended international auditions, with the possibility of a Test debut in New Zealand next month, but ruined the impression with a terrible hack at Ford’s third place, while Jacob Bethel – Another Test debutant-in-waiting – looked brilliant rotating the strike but also fell to an awkward slog in the covers.
Jamie Overton, making his ODI debut, was selected for his ability to hit sixes over long ground, but was trapped LBW off Moti after missing a sweep on the very first ball, while Dan Mousley, the international The debut could hardly have been more memorable than this. However he at least connected well on Moti’s flat pull which edged out Evin Lewis for 6 at the midwicket boundary.
In this very inexperienced team, Adil Rashid, England’s leading ODI run-scorer, then extended that lead by 15 runs and took the total past 200. But Archer’s skid slap off Joseph’s ball landed in the gloves of Shai Hope, Rashid was out for the last time. 29 balls remained unused and John Turner, England’s fourth debutant, remained unbeaten on 2 runs.
West Indies’ hopes of a quick chase were dashed by rain mid-innings, which delayed the resumption of play.
Andrew Miller is the UK editor for ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
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