Key events
WICKET! Justin Greaves c Duckett b Bethell 22 (West Indies 258-5)
Caught in the deep, Bethell has his first and Greaves is on his way with West Indies needing more in Cardiff.
43rd over: West Indies 243-4 (Hope 57, Greaves 22) Potts comes back into the attack and is greeted by Shai Hope pongoing him back down the ground for SIX! The bowler responds with a searing yorker but Hope manages to dig it out and squirt it behind square for another boundary. Potts can’t believe it, he thought that had snuck through for a second. Hope goes to a 28th ODI fifty, he’s some player.
43rd over: West Indies 243-4 (Hope 46, Greaves 21) Greaves slaps a flighted ball from Rashid to the fence with real force. Mahmood save a couple of runs with a diving stop at backward point but Greaves is in the mood now, flaying Rashid up and over midwicket for four more. Twelve off the over, Eoin Morgan thinks West Indies should have been aiming for 350 but might have to settle for 310.
41st over: West Indies 231-4 (Hope 45, Greaves 10) England continue to squeeze, Jacob Bethell peels off an over for just four runs and Shai Hope is visibly champing at the bit, he know his side need to make the most of this foundation and are spluttering a bit to get out of gear at the moment.
40th over: West Indies 227-4 (Hope 43, Greaves 7) Ten overs remaining and the run rate has slowed down with a couple of wickets in the last ten overs. Time for some humpty I reckon.
39th over: West Indies 220-4 (Hope 42, Greaves 3) Rashid gets in and out of another over cheaply, just four funs off it. Apologies if I said Jamie Smith was behind the stump earlier on – it is of course Jos Buttler. England’s former captain described Rashid as the most indispensable member of the ODI team when he presented the leg-spinner with his 150th ODI cap on Friday. It’s been another fine performance from Rashid – he has 2-34 from his eight overs so far.
38th over: West Indies 216-4 (Hope 40, Greaves 1) Just four off Carse’s ninth over, West Indies looking to put their foot down but just being kept quiet by England at the moment.
37th over: West Indies 212-4 (Hope 37, Greaves 0) Justin Greaves is the new man and Brydon Carse returns to the attack with two overs left in the can.
WICKET! Shimron Hetmyer lbw b Rashid 4 (West Indies 212-4)
Rashid strikes! Pins Hetmyer in front of all three and DRS confirms it was stone dead.
36th over: West Indies 209-3 (Hope 35, Hetmyer 3 ) Love this, Shimron Hetymer swaggers out to the middle sans helmet. He can cause some real damage if he gets going. Gets off the mark with a couple of flicks into the leg side.
WICKET! Keacy Carty st Buttler b Jacks 103 (West Indies 205-3)
Gone! Keacy Carty wants to get in on the action but ends up trotting past a flighted ball from Jacks – Buttler does the business behind the stumps and a fine knock comes to a close.
Will Jacks into the attack and Shai Hope is going to target him – plants the foot and slaps down the ground for SIX!
35th over: West Indies 198-2 (Carty 103, Hope 27) Delightful way to go to a century! Keacy Carty plays a deft late cut off Bethell and he’s timed it behind point for four! Fantastic knock, he had some luck early on after being spilled by Duckett and Mahmood but has played a classy innings full of sparkling drives and cuts.
34th over: West Indies 188-2 (Carty 97, Hope 24) Something’s gonna give… Shai Hope is getting frustrated as he unfurls some brutal shots but they go straight to the fielders in the ring. Just three runs off Potts and Carcy’s wait for a ton continues.
33rd over: West Indies 185-2 (Carty 97, Hope 21) Jacob Bethell returns, he’ll need to bowl plenty of the remaining overs along with Will Jacks. A decent start after drinks, just three off it and a play and a miss induced from Carty who is one boundary away form a fourth ODI century.
32nd over: West Indies 182-2 (Carty 96, Hope 19) Brook rotates through his seamers, Potts is called up on and bangs the ball in on a good length, the ball flying through at head height to Buttler behind the sticks. Three off it and time for a drink.
31st over: West Indies 179-2 (Carty 95, Hope 17) Shot! Carty spanks Mahmood through the leg side on the pull, Jacob Bethell dives full stretch at short midwicket but can’t get to it. Carty is approaching what would be a fantastic century and will be giving Ben Duckett a wink at some point later on after Duckett spilled him in single figures a couple of hours ago.
30th over: West Indies 172-2 (Carty 90, Hope 15) Rashid rattles off another into a firm Welsh breeze. West Indies can target 350 and more from this position.
29th over: West Indies 168-2 (Carty 88, Hope 13) Mahmood back for another spell – he starts with a miserly over that is right on the button – just a single off it. He has 0-23 from his seven over so far as England burn through their seam options with more than twenty overs still to go. Harry Brook feeling the pressure for the first time in his tenure as captain, he’s been buzzing around to try and lift his side but rather resembles an over-zealous best man on the Sunday of a heavy-stag doo weekend, his men aren’t really giving him much back.
28th over: West Indies 167-2 (Carty 87, Hope 13) Rashid nearly gets out his fifth over cheaply but Shai Hope shows his quality with a languid drive for four that threads the needle in the covers.
27th over: West Indies 161-2 (Carty 86, Hope 8) Brydon Carse looked lethal with the new ball but has started to leak runs towards the end of his allocation. He chunters all the way back to his mark after Shai Hope whips down the ground for four. A single brings Carty on strike and a bouncer is gloved well safe of Jamie Smith behind the stumps and brings another boundary. Harrrumph.
26th over: West Indies 150-2 (Carty 80, Hope 1) West Indies captain Shai Hope is the new man. Two aesthetically pleasing players at the crease for the visitors, can they capitalise on this healthy position?
WICKET! Brandon King c Carse b Rashid 59 (West Indies 147-1)
Rashid gets the breakthrough and England were very much in need. King tries to plonk him down the ground for six but finds the safe hands of Brydon Carse at long off. Partnership broken, King is on his way after a fine innings.
25th over: West Indies 146-1 (King 59, Carty 77) Keacy Carty is opening the shoulders now, quite literally as he plays a forearm smash down the ground to Carse that Pete Sampras would have been happy with. Carse goes short again and Carty slams another pull through the leg side for four more! Eleven runs off the over, West Indies are half-way through their innings and have a solid foundation on which to post a challenging total. England have been well off the pace, time for a verbal rocket ‘Arry?
24th over: West Indies 135-1 (King 59, Carty 66) Rashid into his third over, no dice for him and five singles worked off it with no alarms for West Indies.
23rd over: West Indies 130-1 (King 57, Carty 64) Will Jacks is summoned. Carty rocks back and nails a punch behind point for four. More pain for England, plenty of it has been of their own making.
22nd over: West Indies 122-1 (King 55, Carty 58) Carse returns and King greets him with a one bounce for from a powerful pull shot! England then fluff another chance and it’s Duckett again! He initially does well to intercept the ball at mid-off but then floats an underarm throw to Buttler with both batsmen stranded mid pitch. The ball comes down with snow on it and King and Carcy had made their ground by the time Buttler could collect and take off the bails. Sloppy stuff from England.
21st over: West Indies 116-1 (King 50, Carty 57) King goes to a well made fifty with a punch through cover but there is some shonky running out in the middle, Carty wanted a quick single but was sent back by his partner, he then face-planted the floor as he dived for his crease. Chops full of dirt and not even a single to show for it.
20th over: West Indies 115-1 (King 49, Carty 57) King drives Potts down the ground for four and then Carty bookends the over with another four, this one is a beauty – holds the pose as he drives with real authority through extra cover. These two have played really well and England have been flatter than a Lincolnshire pancake in the field today.
19th over: West Indies 106-1 (King 44, Carty 53) Rashid drags down and is mown away for four by Keacy Carty who then raises his bat for a well made fifty. He’s in great nick and has played some sublime shots, elegant and powerful. Hundred up for the visitors.
18th over: West Indies 99-1 (King 44, Carty 49) A change of ends for Matt Potts but West Indies are happy to nudge the ones and twos. Potts is frustrated, giving it some double-teapot action at the end of the over. Here come’s Rashid…
17th over: West Indies 94-1 (King 43, Carty 45) Gah! Mahmood drops a sitter! England’s digits have been dripping in Trex today. That’s the third missed catch and the easiest of the lot. Bethell fires in at the leg-stump and Carty slaps a simple chance square to Mahmood, he misses the initial grab and then fails to take the rebound too. Seven off the over and Windies approaching the hundred mark, England need a wicket. Adil Rashid is warming up.
16th over: West Indies 87-1 (King 42, Carty 39) Three off Mahmood’s sixth over, he’s been frugal today – no wickets but only 22 runs scored off him.
Gary Naylor is not happy with the empty seats on display at Cardiff.
“I’m all for taking the England and Wales Cricket Board’s team to all corners of the realm, but I fail to understand why they cannot price seats so that they sell out. The capacity is about 15,000, so Sophia Gardens is hardly the Maracana. An empty seat is also a drink unsold at the bar, a kid at home playing Minecraft and not inspired to play sport and an atmosphere diluted. Just be smarter!”
Hard agree, this is something that those that run the game keep getting wrong. There’s a cost of living crisis on for FFS, how are families – or most people for that matter – supposed to afford tickets at north of a hundred pounds? It’s a school day anyway but Under 16 tickets for the final game of this series on Tuesday at the Oval are 40 quid and the adult tickets are 100, 120, 140 pounds a pop. I imagine they were a bit cheaper for Cardiff today but not by much.
It’ll come back to bite them in the summer when everyone is watching Oasis at Wembley…
15th over: West Indies 84-1 (King 41, Carty 37) Jacob Bethell does indeed come on for a twirl put he doesn’t get it right in his first over, twelve runs from it as King helps himself to two fours on the leg side as the youngster doesn’t get his line right.
14th over: West Indies 72-1 (King 33, Carty 34) Ouch! Mahmood slams down a nasty bouncer that spits like a tobacco chewin’ cobra and has King hopping at the crease, the ball hitting the forearm on the way past. That’ll need some arnica later.
13th over: West Indies 71-1 (King 33, Carty 33) Potts is flayed away outside off for four by Carty. Jacob Bethell is warming up, he’s either giving his captain a big tell or he’s got the nod and will be bowling his off-spin darts soon.
12th over: West Indies 62-1 (King 32, Carty 25) A change of ends for Mahmood and he uses the wind to get a ball to beat Carty on the outside edge. Three singles for West Indies, they’ve been much more compact today compared to Edgbaston.
11th over: West Indies 59-1 (King 31, Carty 23) Potts scuds one on to King’s pads but it was headed down the leg side and the appeal was duly muted. Eoin Morgan and Michael Atherton are discussing when ‘cricket was cool’ during the summer of 2005. Easy now fellas. Then again, every time I see the footage of the bus parade and Trafalgar Square it blows my mind.
Taha did a lovely piece on 2005 and all that last week. Where have the last twenty years gone?
10th over: West Indies 57-1 (King 30, Carty 21) Carse probes away and there’s just a couple of runs off his over, a leg bye and a single from Brandon King poked past point.
9th over: West Indies 54-1 (King 29, Carty 21) Potts tightens things up for England who know have just one slip in place. Just a single off it and the last ball is play and miss from Carty who nibbles outside off at a decent outswinger. Good contest so far in Cardiff.
8th over: West Indies 53-1 (King 28, Carty 21) Carse is flicked off the pads by Carty for four and then a regal drive sees Carty hold the pose as he sends the ball skimming to the fence. This is brilliant batting from West Indies and Carty, the sun has come out and England have been a bit wayward with the ball and in the field.
Carty plays another uncomplicated drive for for four and follows up with a delicious drive through mid-on for the fourth boundary of the over. Carse grabs his cap and mutters a few expletives that are picked up by the stump mic. Ooooh Pardon!
7th over: West Indies 36-1 (King 28, Carty 5) Matthew Potts replaces Mahmood and Brandon King takes a shine to the Durham seamer. A short ball is dispatched for four through square and then a rasping drive sends a half volley pinging through the covers.
6th over: West Indies 25-1 (King 19, Carty 3) DROP! Duckett again! A thick edge from King off Carse and Duckett can only palm it over the bar in the slips. He’s usually a very safe pair of hands but he is a bit too short to be in the slips, sorry to all the little guys out there, but that would have been swallowed by anyone over 5ft9. Am I being short-ist? Will I get cancelled. A bit of frisson for a Sunday morning. England and Duckett have shelled two regulation chances this morning.
King rubs salt in the wound by swivelling a pull for four in some style.
5th over: West Indies 17-1 (King 11, Carty 3) Mahmood peels off a tight over for just two runs. He’s unhappy with some of the footmarks though so the groundstaff hurry out with a mallet and get thwacking. Carty nudges and sprints a quick single, West Indies have to rotate the strike and pick up waht they can. It’s tough out there at the moment.
4th over: West Indies 15-1 (King 11, Carty 2) Keacy Carty is shelled by Ben Duckett! A length ball is poked to the pint sized Notts man at second slip and he chooses to go with one hand when he could haver grasped it with two. It was a decent height and very catchable – Duckett will be annoyed he didn’t take that. Brydon Carse certainly is.
Carse then slips King a yorker that misses the off stump by a gnat’s eyebrow. What a ball, late swing taking it away from an emphatic clean bowled at the very last second. Another brilliant over from the impressive Carse.
3rd over: West Indies 14-1 (King 11, Carty 1) King unfurls a princely cover drive for four off Mahmood. That whistled across the Sophia Gardens baize. Eeeesht! The bowler responds with an absolute peach that angles in and decks away late, leaving the batter hoping and praying there’s no edge.
2nd over: West Indies 6-1 (King 4, Carty 0) Keacy Carty is the new batter for West Indies. He’s been in good form of late, peeling off a couple of centuries on the recent tour of Ireland.
WICKET! Jewel Andrew c Jacks b Carse 0 (West Indies 6-1)
Oh no! After giving him the big build up the teenage sensation Jewel Andrew is on his way for a duck. Brydon Carse get some bounce and hits the splice, Andrew guilty of playing with hard hands in front of his body and a simple catch is looped to Will Jacks close on the off side. England have their first and Carse peels off an impressive wicket maiden to start.
1st over: West Indies 6-0 (King 4, Andrew 0) Saqib Mahmood struggles with his line in the first over, shonking two balls down the leg side. He then over-corrects and a wide ball is splayed away through the off side by King to open up the Windies account. Ooof! two beauties from Mahmood to end the over – angling in and then jagging away late, beating the outside edge on both occasions. Looks to be a bit in the wicket, England on the hunt for early wickets with two slips in place.
Righto, here come the players. Brandon King and 18 year old Jewel Andrew to open up for West Indies. Andrew is another precocious talent who is setting tongues wagging with his batting skills. He’ll be the youngest opening batter for West Indies in ODIs.
“The world will be amazed by his talent” Shai Hope told me last week in an interview for today’s match programme. Plenty to look forward to then, let’s play!
Ian Bishop and Michael Atherton have been discussing Jacob Bethell on Sky, Bishop knows his dad well from years ago and he admits that there is a pang of regret that the Barbados raised kid is playing for England. There’s a lot of noise about Bethell, remember he is yet to score a century in professional cricket but is already an international cricketer in all three formats and has been rubbing shoulders with Virat Kohli in the IPL. I’m not one for hyperbole but five minutes of watching him bat and you can see he has something special.
Teams:
England: Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Matthew Potts, Saqib Mahmood
West Indies: Brandon King, Jewel Andrew, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope (c & wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, Justin Greaves, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales
Shimron Hetmyer comes in for Amir Jangoo for West Indies.
Their captain Shai Hope is in Judge Dredd shades and knows his side need a big response today.
“It’s a three-match series and we need to turn it around, come out and be positive. We have to be smarter, got to find a way. Ready to go today.”
England win the toss and will bowl!
Shai Hope calls incorrectly and Harry Brook has no hesitation in inserting the visitors. It’s breezy and bright in Cardiff.
“There’s a bit of grass so we should get a bit out of the pitch early on.” Says Brook. “Potts is banging on the door in all three formats, but a shame Jamie (Overton) has gone down… we want to keep smashing away, be more ruthless.”
Smashy and No-more Nicey.
Preamble
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to the second ODI between England and West Indies from Cardiff. Harry Brook’s tenure as the new white ball captain got off to a barnstorming start at Edgbaston on Friday as the batters racked up 400 runs and then skittled Shai Hope’s West Indies for just 162 runs.
The weather is set fair at Sophia Gardens and we’ll have the toss and team news imminently, we already know England’s XI – Jamie Overton is ruled out with a finger injury and Matt Potts comes in to the pace attack.
Jacob Bethell put the cat further amongst the pigeons on Friday with a scintillating knock that further backed up those who are calling him a generational talent. Anyone else reminded of the situation with Kevin Pietersen in 2005 (Bethell has got a penchant for a dodgy barnet too…) JUST GET HIM IN!
Play starts at 11am. Do get in touch if you are tuning in.