Pollard says it’s a “fresh pitch, let’s see what we can get out of it. At night, with a bit of dew, it might come on [to the bat].” The WI captain is excited for his young players to stake a claim. Shai Hope gets the nod at the top of the order while Jason Holder is carded at No. 6 and Akeal Hosein takes the spin duties.
Eoin Morgan, meanwhile, isn’t fussed, saying he would have batted first anyway. “We have a reasonably good record chasing. We’re not that bad at setting but it’s an area we want to improve.” Billings has completed his long haul from Hobart Test XI and straight into the mix in Bridgetown, taking the gloves – so no room for Salt tonight, nor any of the other potential debutants. Liam Dawson is included as an extra bowling option, alongside Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.
West Indies vs England Highlights today, 1st T20I (D/N), Saturday 22-1-2022 – England tour of West Indies from Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
ICC Rankings Test, ODI & T20I
West Indies win the toss and bowl.
West Indies team: 1 Shai Hope, 2 Brandon King, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Jason Holder, 7 Fabian Allen, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Odean Smith, 10 Akeal Hosein, 11 Sheldon Cottrell.
England team: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Tom Banton, 3 James Vince, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Eoin Morgan (c), 6 Sam Billings (wk), 7 Chris Jordan, 8 Liam Dawson, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Tymal Mills.
Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies: LLLLL
England: LLWWW
Match Timings: 20:00 GMT | 16:00 Local
Umpires – Gregory Brathwaite, Joel Wilson
TV Umpires – Leslie Reifer
Match Referee – Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Nigel Duguid
Match number – T20I no. 1453
Post Match presentation.
Kieron Pollard:
“That’s the blueprint we ask guys to put up. Really happy for the guys. To come out and win a match isn’t easy, to see the young guys come out and finish it off was fantastic. [Bowling] Sheldon [Cottrell] coming back in, Jason showed his quality. These two bowlers were phenomenal, and then backing it up in the field. Sometimes when you get four wickets early guys can relax, but they know the importance of sticking to plans.
Thought they were fantastic. This is just the first of five, but winning games isn’t easy at all. [King] Did well in Pakistan, and being able to finish the game is something we’re trying to inculcate. Sometimes these surfaces aren’t conducive to going hard. But well done to them, good opening partnership. In less than 24 hours we’ll try and do it again. [Recent criticism] Tough times don’t last, tough people, do. I come each and every time and try to give my 100%. We’re sticking together in the dressing room.”
Eoin Morgan:
“Not at all [start we wanted], and the opposite conditions to what we played on [in the warm-up]. WI dominated early on, we didn’t seem to adapt. Have to come back tomorrow with a fresh game plan. Think the wicket could be the same again. Something we spoke about coming here, more so in Barbados, a little bit more bounce. Today it wasn’t that consistent. Trying to get the mindset around risk-reward didn’t happen. [Tough for young players] Nature of international cricket, you get tested/exposed throughout your career. I’ll be encouraging them to stay as positive as possible. [Fans] We’re trying, we always get great support. We hope to play better cricket.”
Jason Holder is Player of the Match:
“Just feels good to perform. Tough series against Ireland, we weren’t happy, but it’s good to bounce back. Really pleased with the effort from everyone. Happy to see the ball go through the way it did. Just hope it remains consistent, that’s the key for pitch preparation. [Fielding] Outstanding, not much I can pinpoint we did wrong. [Back-to-back games] I’m up for it, the schedule is what it is. Recovering well and being up for every challenge.”
