Chris Jordan's third wicket, accounting for the free-scoring Denesh Ramdin, proved crucial.
©REUTERS/Philip Brown. Picture Supplied by Action Images
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Jordan Stars In Homecoming
England 165-6 (Lumb 63, Hales 38) beat
West Indies 160-7 (Jordan 3-39) by 5 runs
Third Twenty20 International, Barbados
Scorecard
Chris Jordan returned to the country of his birth to star with both bat and ball for his adopted country as they finally tasted victory in a Twenty20 International ahead of the imminent ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.
Jordan lifted England to a useful score of 165 for six, after they had threatened to squander the strong start given to them by Michael Lumb (63 off 40 balls) and Alex Hales (38 off 31), by smashing four sixes in the final over, bowled by Dwayne Bravo.
He then followed up Jade Dernbach’s first-ball wicket in the West Indies run chase by removing Johnson Charles and Marlon Samuels before returning to remove Denesh Ramdin, who had threatened to take the West Indies over the winning line. They eventually fell just short, losing by five runs, as the much-maligned Dernbach defended 17 off the final over by getting the better of the home side’s finisher Darren Sammy.
England began by winning the toss and choosing to bat, making two changes to their eleven but still finding no place for the recalled Ian Bell. Tim Bresnan was rested, hence Jordan’s inclusion, with Ben Stokes taking the place of Luke Wright. The hosts, meanwhile, rested Chris Gayle and handed a chance to Charles, with Sunil Narine and Sheldon Cottrell replacing the injured Samuel Badree and the rested Ravi Rampaul.
Lumb and Hales, for once, gave England an excellent start by adding 64 in the first six overs. They would go on to take their opening stand to 98 before the dominant partner, Lumb, succumbed to Cottrell for 63, having hit 11 boundaries. Hales followed not long after, also to Cottrell, with a middle-order collapse then following.
Narine dispensed with skipper Eoin Morgan for 18, with Krishmar Santokie ensuring that Jos Buttler’s hit-or-miss form continued by having him caught at cover for just three. He also bowled Stokes first ball and then ran out Moeen Ali for three to complete the collapse of six for 40 and leave England on 138 for six with only 11 balls of their innings to go. Fortunately for them, Jordan was on hand to hit four of them for six to end on 27 off only nine balls.
Bravo was the man who suffered at Jordan’s hands, conceding 35 runs in all from three wicket-less overs. Santokie again impressed with two for 27, while Cottrell (2-37) and Narine (1-34) were other wicket-takers. Samuels was also effective, delivering two overs at a cost of only seven runs.
It was then the turn of the West Indies to suffer a poor start as Dernbach castled Dwayne Smith first ball before Jordan made it 28 for three with his brace of wickets. Lendl Simmons, though, led a recovery, initially alongside Dwayne Bravo, who contributed 16 to a fourth-wicket stand of 38.
Bravo, though, was the first man to fall in a Ravi Bopara double-strike as the hosts slipped further to 67 for five at the end of the 11th over. However, Ramdin joined Simmons and the pair brought their side right back into the game. They shared 73 for the sixth-wicket in less than eight overs, but both would fall, for 33 off 21 balls and 69 off 55 respectively, leaving Sammy with too much to do.
Besides Jordan (3-39), James Tredwell and Bopara were again impressive for England with figures of none for 18 and two for 28 from their four-over allocations. Left-arm spinner Stephen Parry ended with none for 32 from his four overs.
© Cricket World 2014
