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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Simon Burnton in Antigua

Bowling flexibility is key for England and Buttler after narrow Antigua defeat

England’s Rehan Ahmed celebrates a wicket with teammates.
England’s Rehan Ahmed (third right) said ‘there were positives with bat and ball for everyone’ despite the opening ODI defeat by West Indies on Sunday. Photograph: Ashley Allen/Getty

It is easy to see the defeat against West Indies on Sunday as a continuation of England’s World Cup travails, but with a little effort it is possible to paint it as a complete contrast: while in India the team’s results were critical and the games themselves not that interesting, in Antigua the one-day match was sensational and the result not that important.

“It was a great game,” Rehan Ahmed said. “I’d much rather those games than an easy win or an easy loss. We didn’t execute how we wanted to, it happens, it’s cricket. There were a lot of positives from it. We thought we won most of the game: we put a good score on the board, we bowled very well for the majority of the game, we just lost the key moments, which is fine as well.

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