Courtesy: England Cricket/X
In the first ODI of the three-match series at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England defeated West Indies by a big margin of 238 runs with Jacob Bethell getting the player of the match for his all-round performance. After posting a massive total of 400/8 in their allotted 50 overs, on the back of meaningful contributions from all the batters in the top seven, England kept the foot on the gas pedal with the ball in hand, bundling out West Indies for just 162 runs in 26.2 overs.
With the bat for England, the likes of Ben Duckett, Joe Root, captain Harry Brook, and Jacob Bethell went past fifties, with the latter being the top-scorer, getting 82 runs off 53 balls with eight fours and five maximums. During their bowling effort, Brydon Carse and Saqib Mahmood took the early wickets, and they combined for one of the best moments of the match, dismissing West Indies captain Shai Hope, who was starting to look set at the crease.
On the third ball of the 12th over, Saqib Mahmood bowled a bouncer to the right-handed batter, who timed the pull shot well, but he wasn’t able to keep the ball down. Brydon Carse was hovering at the deep square leg boundary, and he initially came a few steps in anticipation of the ball, but it got big on him before he jumped in the air to pluck the ball out of thin air with the outstretched right hand, to a reception of shock and awe not only from the fans at the stadium, but also his teammates, including Saqib Mahmood himself.
Watch the video here:
Jamie Overton took three lower order wickets of West Indies lineup in quick succession
Following that, Jacob Bethell and Adil Rashid got into the act with a wicket each before Jamie Overton took no time to take three wickets of the West Indies lower order. For the last wicket, Alzarri Joseph (12 off 19) and Gudakesh Motie (29 off 14) put a rear-guard action, sharing a 38-run stand before Adil Rashid had the last laugh, cleaning up Alzarri Joseph, to put an end to the West Indies innings.
The second ODI of the three-match series will be played at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Sunday, June 1, and it will be a day game.
