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On a wet and rainy day at Kensington Oval in Barbados, the West Indies’ captain, Shai Hope, won the toss against England and made the obvious decision to field first to take advantage of the overcast conditions for his bowlers.
Debutant fast bowler Barbadian Matthew Forde was given the first over with the new ball, and claimed his first wicket in the final delivery of that over. He was right on spot in his spell, never showing any signs of the nervousness that sometimes can trouble a newcomer. He ended with figures of three wickets for 29 runs, and with that effort shows that he has the temperament for the big occasion.
The fielding was not of the highest quality. Keacy Carty was the biggest culprit. He dropped two catches, one at deep mid-wicket and the other at cover point, which were regulation catches, and his ground fielding was not up to international standard.
However, he made up for those fielding lapses with his classy batting. He played with confidence and approached it with some authority. He was strong both on the drives, devising strokes off the back foot to short rising deliveries and pull shots with perfect positioning.
But although Carty’s batting is out of the top drawer, he cannot allow his fielding to let him down. He appeared so distraught after the dropped catches that he didn’t know how to get over it and recover his confidence. Coach of the team Darren Sammy will have picked this up and no doubt will work on correcting it.
Alzarri Joseph went for 61 runs off his eight overs, gathering three wickets. He created an outstanding run-out when, after bowling, batsman Harry Brook pushed it on the on side and called for the single. Joseph, in his follow-through, darted to his right, picked up the ball, and in one sweeping action, spun 180 degrees, threw at the stumps towards which Brook was scampering and the ball struck them, with the shocked batsman a few centimetres from safety in the crease. It was an excellent piece of fielding by the vice captain, and it was good to see.
Romario Shepherd bowled well enough, but could be more consistent in his line and length. However, his fighting spirit is ever present and his results, of two wickets for 50 runs, are proof of an ever-trying cricketer.
He’s also growing in confidence in his batting. One can see a burning desire to win, and his 41 not out to bring the game home is the type of confidence of which players need to take heed. His brave stroke-making can be a lesson for many of his teammates, plus those on the fringes, learning how to win a game. He was brilliant.
Gudakesh Motie went wicketless as he bowled his left-arm orthodox spin. Nonetheless, his bowling was accurate, with a perfect symmetry of line and length. His ground fielding and his catching are noteworthy. He’s a fine cricketer. His eight overs only leaked 23 runs.
The leg spinner, Yannic Cariah, was a bit unlucky. He has good control and his leg break is always on target, but there’s not enough turn for the googly, which, in this game, did not turn effectively. It is something for him to work on.
Like Carty, Alick Athanaze is a batsman of class. His stroke play is self-assured, with excellent timing. He was batting beautifully, guiding the innings of his team, which is the job of an opening batsman. Although he lost his fellow opener Brandon King early, in the third ball of the first over, he played quite responsibly – when, out of the blue, with the score at 78 and his personal tally at 45, he surprisingly played across a delivery from Gus Atkinson that certainly did not deserve a review.
Two shockers were the dismissals of Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford.
The two batsmen were reckless in their shot selection, especially when recognising that victory was theirs for the taking.
Hetmyer (12) patted a long hop gently into the hands of short backward point off off-break bowler Will Jacks. And so he has failed again.
Six runs later, at 122 for four, Rutherford (three) hit a catch off the same bowler to long on with 66 runs still needed.
These two batsmen, plus King, need some lessons on how to play an innings, especially to win a match. Their inconsistency is irritating.
 
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