England won by 29 runs
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Jos Buttler
Batter
Bowler
Sometimes cricket can be a really tough sport, there are no draws in the limited-over format but if there was one, England would have happily taken it today. A staggering 807 runs scored in this ODI match which included 46 sixes. Windies scored 389 out of them yet they finished on the losing side. What a shame. But they can hold their heads high after a sensational performance with the bat. The series can still be levelled and trust this Windies team to give their bloody best in St. Lucia for the final ODI. On that optimistic note, I, Varun Dixit, sign off the coverage on behalf of Akshay, Hariprasad and Shashikant. Good night and take care!
Morgan, winning skipper: It was a hell of a game. We were fortunate with Rashid's spell. We needed something special to go over the line. Collective as a group we were excellent. Buttler in full-flow was exceptional. Gayle was very difficult to stop on a ground and on a wicket like this. There is not a huge deal of difference between the top 10 teams in the world. They are a strong side. Adil is a strong asset of ours. He won us the game in his final over. This game could have gone either way. Rashid's last over rescued us.
Buttler, Man of the Match: It was an incredible game of cricket. We are delighted that we got the win. We talked on the bench about the right and left combination, that was the reason I went up the order. The guys work hard on range hitting. We have a powerful batting line-up and we are doing well. It has been a competitive series and hopefully, we will have a good last match too.
Holder, losing skipper: I thought the guys really stuck to it and put a great effort. Credit to Chris and the others. Unfortunately, we couldn't get across the line. Was a good surface to bat on, both teams struggled to contain. Credit to both teams. Buttler batted really well, he and Morgan had that great partnership. We needed a good powerplay and got a good platform but just couldn't get across the line. We knew that we couldn't die wondering and had to be fearless. Some guys kicked on, some couldn't but overall, a great effort to get this close. He (Gayle) is right up there among the greats of Windies cricket. To be dominant even in this age of two new balls, it's incredible. He seems to be getting better with age. Looking forward to squaring the series at St Lucia, both teams have played really well, hopefully we can level the series.
17:52 Local Time, 21:52 GMT, 03:22 IST: Wow! What a match! We have seen a thriller at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada. The rain abandoned the final match. But today, the rain droplets were replaced by the cricket balls and it was raining sixes. Windies lost two early wickets in their pursuit of 419 but the Universe Boss was at his lethal best. He was smashing sixes left, right and centre and at one point the target of 419 was looking well within reach. But Stokes smashed the stumps of Gayle and that triggered a collapse. Nurse and Brathwaite put up a brilliant partnership for the seventh wicket and at 389-6, Windies were back in the driving seat. In that crucial stage, England skipper, showed the courage to give the ball to Rashid in the 48th over and it turned out to be a master stroke as he picked up four wickets in it and sealed the match for England. Hang on for the presentations..
END OF OVER 48
2 Runs
WI: 389 - 10
2 W W 0 W W
Oshane Thomas
0 (1)
Sheldon Cottrell
0 (0)
Adil Rashid
10-0-85-5
Adil Rashid to Thomas, out Stumped!! England win a sensational game of cricket by 29 runs. Adil Rashid has a beaming smile on his face. And why not? He deserves every bit of it. Four wicket in the final five balls for the leggie. And he has just vindicated the importance of the wrist spinner in an ODI team. It was a googly and it spins away from the left-hander sharply. It was beyond Thomas to read it off the hand, he attempts a drive, loses his balance too. It fizzes past his outside edge and Buttler takes off the bails in a canter. Thomas st Buttler b Adil Rashid 0(1)
Adil Rashid to Thomas, THATS OUT!! Stumped!!
Oshane Thomas, left handed bat, comes to the crease
Adil Rashid to Bishoo, out Caught by Hales!! Three wickets in four balls for Adil Rashid. He has won England the match in a matter of four balls. It was a flighted delivery down the leg-side, Bishoo attempts an extravagant shot, fails to get enough power behind it and ends up gifting a catch to Hales at deep square leg. Bishoo c Hales b Adil Rashid 0(2)
Adil Rashid to Bishoo, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Adil Rashid to Bishoo, no run, well tossed up and it spins away sharply, rips past the outside edge of Bishoo
Sheldon Cottrell, right handed bat, comes to the crease
Adil Rashid to Brathwaite, out Caught by Morgan!! Brathwaite smashes the turf as he leaves the field. He is fuming, literally fuming. It was another leggie on the stumps, Brathwaite wanted to whip it to the on-side. He closes the face of the bat early and the leading edge takes it to extra cover where Morgan takes it with utmost ease. Adil Rashid will be on a hat-trick. Brathwaite c Morgan b Adil Rashid 50(36) [4s-4 6s-2]
Adil Rashid to Brathwaite, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Devendra Bishoo, left handed bat, comes to the crease
Adil Rashid to Nurse, out Caught by Plunkett!! It was an audacious move from Morgan to stick with Adil Rashid. And the gamble has paid off. It was a well flighted delivery on the stumps, Nurse wanted to sweep again, it comes off the top-edge and the ball lobs up, it doesn't go far and Plunkett takes an easy catch at short fine. Nurse c Plunkett b Adil Rashid 43(41) [4s-5]
Adil Rashid to Nurse, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Adil Rashid to Nurse, 2 runs, in the air, safe. It was a flighted delivery on the stumps, Nurse goes down on his knees and mistimes the slog sweep. It was in the air for a fair bit but lands just short of the diving long-on
Morgan sticks with Rashid. This is interesting. A gamble by the England skipper.
END OF OVER 47
6 Runs
WI: 387 - 6
1 2 1 0 1 1
Ashley Nurse
41 (39)
Carlos Brathwaite
50 (35)
Mark Wood
10-0-60-4
Mark Wood to Nurse, 1 run, full-toss on the stumps and Nurse pushes it to the off-side, rotates the strike