Time for me to go and lie down in a darkened room. That was something very special. And it was just what the game needed, as the series is all square at 2-2 and both sides have the chance to win it on Thursday, back at the ground known as the Lara, in the fifth act of this pulsating drama.
Simon Burnton’s match report will be along just as soon as he works out how many records are lying shattered on the press-box floor. Thursday’s decider will be covered by Rob Smyth, so I’ll just say thanks for your company and correspondence and a very happy Christmas.
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The IPL owners now have some idea how the bosses at Decca Records felt when The Beatles went to number one.
Phil Salt wants to know if they can redo the IPL auction please.
— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) December 19, 2023
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Here’s Jos Buttler, and he’s buzzing. “Fantastic win,” he tells Gower “It was like being at the Hong Kong Sixes, wasn’t it? Really proud of the group. To play with the bravery that we have, and the skill level to be able to execute it – delighted for the guys. It’s a very confident changing room.”
Having to play second fiddle to this fellow Salt? “Really happy doing that,” Jos replies with a chuckle. “Very enjoyable batting with him – we’ve done it in The Hundred and at Lancashire, we know each other’s game really well and he’s playing brilliantly, so good luck to him.”
And now it’s a grand final. “Really fitting. Both teams have played some great cricket throughout the series.”
The player of the match is … Phil Salt, for the second time in four days. He looks rather solemn standing on the podium, perhaps reflecting on his performance as a keeper. But when David Gower asks “Dare I say, are you enjoying it?” he laughs and says “I am!”
He adds that he tweaked his game a bit, “more on the mental side”. Did he enjoy having the gloves as well? “I did!”
England are back in business. They’ve banished the World Cup blues, and the disappointment of losing the 50-over series on this tour. They could still lose this series, but even if they do it feels as if they’ve turned a corner, and emerged as a half-new team. Phil Salt has very definitely arrived (though not as a wicketkeeper). It’s hard to see Jonny Bairstow getting back in the starting XI for a while.
A good spot from Tom Bowtell. “Wondering,” he says, “whether West Indies’ 192 is the highest score (in all international cricket?) without any batter facing more than 25 balls? We’re all too excited to check but I bet it is.” You may well be right.
That was a gobsmacking game of cricket. England made the biggest total in their 18-year T20 history. And then West Indies got well ahead of the rate – but kept losing wickets. We’ve seen 459 runs scored in 35.3 overs.
Every single England player made a significant contribution. Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Will Jacks and Liam Livingstone all batted well, Salt exceptionally so. The six bowlers all took at least one wicket. And the odd man out, Harry Brook, fielded like a demon. His only mistake was to let a two turn into a four with a fumble on the rope, and he made up for it next ball by catching Andre Russell.
ENGLAND WIN BY 75 RUNS! TO SQUARE THE SERIES
Russell c Brook b Topley 51 (West Indies 192 all out) And that is that! Russell holes out the ball after reaching a fine fifty.
15th over: West Indies 182-9 (Russell 41, Motie 0) Dre Russ still believes. This over is a nice little duel between him and Adil Rashid. Six, dot, dot, six, dot, leg-bye (and missed stumping). That’s 13 sixes in this innings and 32 in the match. West Indies need 86 from the last five overs, which is precisely what England scored when they won the last game.
14th over: West Indies 169-9 (Russell 29, Motie 0) Topley’s third over is a triumph: one wicket for five runs. West Indies need 99 from six overs, which would be almost impossible with wickets in hand.
Wicket! Forde c Buttler b Topley 3 (West Indies 169-9)
Forde gives catching practice to Buttler at extra-cover. That’s the end of a debut innings that lasted five balls and featured some interesting contortions.
13th over: West Indies 164-8 (Russell 24, Forde 3) Hosein had just hit a four, a skimmer through the covers, but on the whole that over was a win for Curran: one wicket and a mere nine runs. Scrooge-like!
Meanwhile, I’m, a bit behind with the mail. “If this was the 2004 edition of Michael Vaughan’s Cricket Manager PC game,” said Tom van der Gucht half an hour ago, “I would bring Rashid and Ahmed on for some high-risk/reward bowling in the hope that the Windies would punch themselves out going for 6s, only to get out with mishits etc. Then again, if this was stick cricket, I’d be bowling dibble-dobbler medium pacers (such as Brook) as they’re nigh on impossible to time, let alone hit boundaries. Now I think about it, I imagine captaining an international team is more challenging than I’d previously realised.”
WICKET! Hosein c Moeen b Curran 15 (West Indies 160-8)
Curran’s bouncer, aimed outside off, is too good for Hosein, who toe-ends a pull and gives Moeen a simple catch at deep square.
12th over: West Indies 155-7 (Russell 22, Hosein 11) Rashid goes for 13 off an over! His leg-break beats both the bat and the gloves of Phil Salt, bringing three wides, and then he goes the other way, with a googly, which is five wides. Has Rashid ever done that before? Does tomorrow’s paper have room for all the unprecedented things we have seen here?
West Indies need 113 off 48 balls. It’s just within the realms of possibility, but they will need luck as well as skill and nerve.
11th over: West Indies 142-7 (Russell 21, Hosein 8) Russell follows the six with a cut for four, but after that Rehan does well, just three singles and one dot. West Indies need 126 off nine overs at a rate of exactly 14. Their hopes rest on the powerful shoulders of Russell.
Rehan Ahmed is on a hat-trick. So what do you think happens? Yes, it’s a six, whirled over the covers by Dre Russ.
Drinks: it's all happening
10th over: West Indies 129-7 (Russell 9, Hosein 7) When Adil Rashid is bowling, it’s a different ballgame. Even with a six off the final ball of this over, chipped over midwicket by Akeal Hosein, Rash has figures of 2-0-11-1. On a day of continual astonishment, he’s just doing his usual thing.
At drinks, West Indies are almost up with the required rate. But they don’t have enough wickets to play with … do they?
9th over: West Indies 120-7 (Russell 7, Hosein 0) Buttler showed some faith in Rehan Ahmed, keeping him on for a second over, and it looked like backfiring as he went for one, six, one, six. But Rehan has the same knack Sam Curran has, and Ian Botham had back in the day – the ability to make things happen. He has the figures to prove it: 2-0-29-2.
WICKET! Holder c Jacks b Rehan 0 (West Indies 120-7)
Two in two for Rehan!
WICKET! Rutherford LBW b Rehan 36 (West Indies 120-6)
Well bowled Rehan! After taking some fearful stick, he sticks at it and bowls a straight ball which Rutherford, going for a reverse pull, misses. “You’ve got to give that!” says Salt behind the stumps. The umpire obliges. Rutherford reviews, in vain: it’s plumb.
Rashid: 1-0-2-1
8th over: West Indies 106-5 (Rutherford 28, Russell 0) Sure enough, Rash works his magic. There’s always someone who comes to the party without his dancing shoes, and here it was poor old Rovman Powell. He faced six balls and didn’t hit a single boundary!
WICKET! Powell b Rashid 4 (West Indies 106-5)
Rash produces the killer googly.
Here’s Adil Rashid, the thriftiest operator in this series. Can he stem the flow?
Hundred up! Off 40 balls
7th over: West Indies 102-4 (Rutherford 28, Powell 2) On comes Rehan Ahmed, the first of England’s three leg-spinners. He’s very good, but he goes for three fours in a row!
The Powerplay goes for 87!
6th over: West Indies 87-4 (Rutherford 15, Powell 1) That is quite a Powerplay. At this rate, West Indies are either going to win or be all out inside 12 overs. After the wicket, there are four leg byes and then Rutherford belts another slower ball for four. Jos Buttler has used four bowlers and they’ve all taken a wicket.
WICKET! Hope c Salt b Woakes 16 (West Indies 78-4)
Another one! Woakes goes for a back-of-a-length slower ball and persuades Hope to send another top edge up into the night sky. It’s an easy catch for Salt.
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5th over: West Indies 74-3 (Hope 12, Rutherford 11) So West Indies have lost their main man. But they still have Hope, who square-drives for four. And he’s been joined by Sherfane Rutherford, who has faced three balls and already hit a cut for four and a drive for six. Sixteen off the over.
“Conditions,” says Ian Bishop, “have been good for batting.”
Pooran, facing Curran’s first ball, fancied another six. He got underneath it and, unlike the one Woakes caught, this one came down from the stratosphere quite rapidly. Brook, at long-on, had to race in and then dive forwards, such a hard thing to pull off. And he made it look like a piece of cake.
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WICKET!! Pooran c Brook b Curran 39 (West Indies 58-3)
A stunning innings ends with a stunning catch.
4th over: West Indies 58-2 (Pooran 39, Hope 7) Shai Hope, being more orthodox than most, takes two balls to play himself in. And then he lofts Topley over long-on for yet another six.
That brings up West Indies’ fifty off 20 balls. Ten off the over, which, as Guy was saying, is what passes for economy these days. At this stage England were 36-0.
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3rd over: West Indies 48-2 (Pooran 36, Hope 0) On comes Chris Woakes. If any seamer can restore order, he can. Dot, dot, dot … four, six, six! One of them a gorgeous straight drive, more of a push really. Pooran has 36 off 11 balls. Salt is keeping wicket.
An email! I was wondering if everybody was too gobsmacked to put pen to paper. “Quiet night of cricket going on here, then,” says Guy Hornsby. “I wrote you an email at the interval in the third game wondering aghast what had become of this England white-ball team, only for Salt to make me happily eat my words. He’s been at it again tonight, with some great support. This score seems from another planet but you know the West Indies will not die wondering. What a time to be a bowler, where going at 10s is match-winning stuff. Rashid and Ahmed feel key tonight.”
2nd over: West Indies 32-2 (Pooran 20, Hope 0) So after two overs, Moeen has one for 20 and Topley has one for 12. England, who hit 19 sixes themselves, have already conceded three. It’s cricket, but not as we know it.
WICKET! Mayers c Woakes b Topley 12 (West Indies 32-2)
This is ridiculous. Kyle Mayers goes for death and glory: a shovel for four, a slog for six, then a skyer … The ball stays up in the air for ages, comes down, bobble out of Chris Woakes’s hands – and he catches the rebound!
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1st over: West Indies 20-1 (Pooran 20, Mayers 0) Crisis? What crisis? Nicholas Pooran comes in at No 3, plays himself in for one ball, then launches a reverse sweep for four, and another. Then a big swing for six, and another! West Indies are well ahead of the rate.
That was the first ball of the innings. King tried to cut Moeen over the ring, but failed to spot that the fielder at short third was the tallest man on the field, Reece Topley. He reached up, as John Arlott would have said, like a man taking a can of baked beans off the top shelf in the supermarket.
WICKET! King c Topley b Ali 0 (West Indies 0-1)
Oh dear.
Do West Indies have any chance? Well, it is possible to make 250 in a T20 game and lose, as they should know because they did it in March. Whether you can make 267 and lose remains to be seen.
ENGLAND CLOSE ON 267!
20th over: England 267-3 (Livingstone 54, Brook 6) The dubious honour of bowling the last over goes to Jason Holder. He delivers three good balls in a row – and still the over goes for 17. Liam Livingstone bludgeons the first ball for four on the offside, then pulls a full toss for four to reach a fine fearless fifty, and finished by snicking four more.
The run rate stayed at 13 almost throughout. Nobody failed: the lowest completed score was Will Jacks’ 24, and that was an electrifying cameo. Jos Buttler and Phil Salt put on another hundred partnership, Salt made another hundred, and Livingstone danced on the bowlers’ grave. England have beaten their previous best in T20s – 241 against New Zealand in Napier four years ago – by a cool 26 runs.
Cometh the hour, cometh the quote we will always remember. “Fair play,” says Livingstone, “to Salty.”
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England reach 250 for the first time in a T20
19th over: England 250-3 (Livingstone 41, Brook 3) And in comes … Harry Brook! Who made 31 off seven balls the other day. He gets off to a relatively sedate start here, with a single off a leading edge and a more convincing effort for two. That takes England to 250 for the first time ever in this format. In the 1960s, they didn’t always manage that in a day.
PHIL SALT HAS BEEN DISMISSED!
Salt b Russell 119 (England 246-3) What the hell? Salt misses a straight one – a full toss from Dre Russ, delivered from round the wicket, which threatens to bore a hole in the batsman, never mind the stumps. He departs for a magnificent 119 off 57 balls. After that 109 not out on Saturday, he may well have played the best pair of back-to back innings in T20 international history.
18th over: England 238-2 (Salt 119, Livingstone 37) This over is in fact good in parts. Forde did start with a wide and then give Livingstone a couple of freebies, but then he keeps calm and carries on trying to bowl yorkers. The last three balls go one, dot, dot. A triumph!
Another three sixes in a row
17.3 overs: England 237-2 (Salt 119, Livingstone 36) We interrupt this over to inform you that Liam Livingstone, facing Matthew Forde, has just gone six, six, six.
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Career best for Salt!
17th over: England 218-2 (Salt 119, Livingstone 18) Powell decides he may as well bowl Motie out. The over goes for 14, with Salt providing the punchline – a swing for six over midwicket, which brings up a half-century for Motie. He trickles away with figures of 4-0-55-0, and Salt has a new career best, beating the 109 he made on Saturday. He may never be out again.
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16th over: England 204-2 (Salt 107, Livingstone 16) Liam Livingstone seems to feel that that Salt deserves a breather. Facing Holder, he plays a cut for four and a hook for six (not middled, but safe as there’s no fine leg out). Salt, duly refreshed, hits a pull for six over long-on. Normal carnage has resumed.
15th over: England 183-2 (Salt 100, Livingstone 3) Powell seized the chance to bring back Motie, but his first ball was a long hop, easily pulled for four by Salt, and after that England milked him for singles, making it easy for Salt to go from 99 to 100. As he did so, he let out a howl of furious delight.
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HUNDRED TO PHIL SALT!
Another one! Hundreds are extremely rare in T20 cricket, and he’s made two in four days. This one has come off 48 deliveries. It’s quite staggering stuff. Are IPL owners allowed to change their minds?
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14th over: England 175-2 (Salt 94, Livingstone 1) Hosein earned that wicket, not only by deceiving Jacks, but by forcing the plug in just before that. His over ends up costing three, a small miracle of thrift. But what a knock by Jacks: after making only one run off six balls on Saturday, he blazed 24 off nine today.
WICKET! Jacks LBW b Hosein 24 (England 173-2)
Jacks goes for a big sweep and misses. It looks plumb and a review doesn’t save him.
Fifty partnership off 19 balls!
13th over: England 172-1 (Salt 92, Jacks 24) Two dots, but also two sixes. One to Salt over midwicket, one to Jacks over extra-cover, and now they’ve added 55 off 19 balls. The dots were good though: one ball angled in at the pads, which Salt missed; the next an impeccable yorker. The run rate stays at 13.
Two dot balls in a row!
Dre Russ, we salute you.
12th over: England 158-1 (Salt 85, Jacks 17) Hosein returns for a third over and may wish he hadn’t as Jacks tucks in. A reverse sweep for four, thanks to a misfield from Motie, is followed by another one for six. Sixteen off the over, and this partnership has already raced to 41 off 13 balls. Current run rate: 13.
11th over: England 142-1 (Salt 80, Jacks 6) The other day in Grenada Will Jacks walked into a party like this and couldn’t think of anything to say. He managed just one run off six balls, but he seems to have learnt from that chastening experience. He does better than that now with his first ball, flicking the last ball of Holder’s over for two, and then cutting a four off Sherfane Rutherford. It may help that, in between, Salt hits Rutherford for three successive sixes, all on the leg side. That’s the most expensive over of the innings, which is saying something: 23 off it.
Drinks: England rocking
9.5 overs: England 117-1 (Salt 61) England have had three partnerships of 75 or more in this series, and they’ve all been made by Messrs Buttler and Salt. That one was the biggest of the lot, just beating their 115 in Grenada on Saturday.
WICKET! Buttler c Powell b Holder 55 (England 117-1)
The breakthrough at last. Buttler goes high and straight again, but he doesn’t get hold of it and gives a comfortable catch to Powell, his opposite number and soon-to-be team-mate at Rajasthan Royals.
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Fifty to Buttler! And the hundred partnership!!
9th over: England 112-0 (Salt 59, Buttler 52) The carnage continues. Three sixes in this over from Gudakesh Motie: Salt swings one to leg, Buttler chips one over cover, Buttler hits another one straight.
Before the brace of sixes, Buttler reverse-swept a two to bring up the hundred. And now he has fifty too, off 26 balls … That’s 21 off the over. I can’t keep up!
8th over: England 91-0 (Salt 52, Buttler 38) Eleven off that over, which is merely the going rate in this innings. These two are doing something very difficult and making it look so easy.
Fifty to Phil Salt!
Salt blasts Andre Russell for four, then dabs him for four more to reach another fifty. This one has come off only 23 balls, with five fours and three sixes. He has now made 159 since he was last out.
7th over: England 80-0 (Salt 42, Buttler 37) Powell makes yet another bowling change, bringing on Gudakesh Motie. Like a few bowlers this afternoon, he bowls a decent half-over and then gets carted. Buttler pulls out the leg glance and the reverse sweep again. if only he could have done this at the World Cup.
6th over: England 68-0 (Salt 39, Buttler 28) Rovman Powell turns to his fourth bowler, Jason Holder. It helps a bit: his over goes for just ten, but Salt still rounds off the Powerplay with a lofted off drive, played on the up, a lovely blend of strength and touch. If anyone in India is still awake to see this, they may be kicking themselves for not snapping him up.
5th over: England 58-0 (Salt 31, Buttler 27) Back comes Forde, but he can’t stop the flow of runs – because he goes leg-stump-ish when he doesn’t have a fine leg. Buttler glances for four, Salt shovels four more, and then Salt goes berserk with successive sixes – a pull and a straight drive. That’s 22 off the over and the first six brought up the fifty off just 29 balls. Poor old Forde, after two overs in this format, has career figures of none for 34.
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4th over: England 36-0 (Salt 14, Buttler 22) Hosein, who has bagged Buttler twice in this series, nearly completes the hat-trick as a mistimed chip goes perilously close to the man diving to his left at extra-cover. Instead it goes for four, and then Buttler cashes in ruthlessly – six with a reverse sweep, four with an orthodox one. As David Gower notes, the second one was set up by “a dummy shimmy”. Not a phrase you’ll find in the MCC Coaching Book.
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3rd over: England 21-0 (Salt 13, Buttler 8) Hang on! We were told that Kyle Mayers had been left out, but here he is coming on to bowl. Rumours of Johnson Charles’s elevation may have been exaggerated – sorry about that. Mayers starts tidily too with his military medium, before Buttler lofts him over mid-off for his first four. As Brandon King goes off the field with an injury of some kind, the camera home in on two drummers drumming.
2nd over: England 14-0 (Salt 12, Buttler 2) At the other end it’s spin from Akeal Hosein. He struggled in the last game but starts well here, with three dots to Buttler, cramping him for room. Buttler steps away to leg and works a single into the off side. Salt flicks one to square leg, and then Buttler can only push a thick edge for no run, so that’s an excellent over from Hosein, just two from it. Advantage nobody!
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1st over: England 12-0 (Salt 11, Buttler 1) Forde finds some swing right away, back into these two right-handers. Phil Salt takes a single first ball, Jos Buttler follows suit off two balls later, and after four balls Forde has gone for only two. Then Salt goes big! Down the track, six over mid-off. And the same again, but all along the ground. Advantage England.
It looks as if we’ll be starting on time. Matthew Forde, a T20 international debutant, has just received his cap and now he has the new ball too.
The word from the ground
Our man on the spot in Trinidad is Simon Burnton, who sent this before the teams were announced. “The covers are on as I type,” he wrote. “They dragged them on five minutes ago, though as far as I can tell it isn’t and hasn’t been raining. Word is two changes to the England team today, and I expect Chris Woakes and Rehan Ahmed to come back in.” The Guardian’s finger, forever on the pulse.
“A few weeks ago,” Simon went on, “there was talk of Trinidadians boycotting this match in protest against Darren Bravo being left out of the ODI squad, and perceived bias against Trinidadians among the West Indies selectors, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of crowd turns up. Oh, and the covers are coming back off!” Phew.
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Teams in brief: two changes apiece
West Indies make two like-for-like changes, bringing in Johnson Charles for Kyle Mayers at the top of the order, and Matthew Forde for Alzarri Joseph among the seamers.
England bring back Chris Woakes and Rehan Ahmed in place of Tymal Mills and Gus Atkinson, so they will have more spinners – possibly five of them, with the two leggies, Ahmed and Rashid, joined by two offies (Moeen and Jacks) and one mixture of the two (Livingstone).
Toss: West Indies opt to chase
The toss is hosted by Samuel Badree. Jos Buttler calls heads, but it’s tails.
“I think you know what we’re going to do, Badree,” says Rovman Powell with a smile. “Bowl first.”
Buttler says he would have done that too.
Preamble
Evening everyone and welcome to the latest episode of a prime-time drama. It may not be as close as England’s thrilling win in Grenada on Saturday, but there’s just as much riding on it.
Lose in Trinidad tonight and England will have lost this series as well as the ODI one, so there will be no arguing that they were a match for the resurgent West Indies. Win it, however, and the T20 series will be beautifully poised at 2-2. The momentum will be with England, who should then have a good chance of pulling off one of these.
In this absorbing five-setter, the role of Andy Murray is being played by Phil Salt. He may not have an England contract, he may not have an IPL contract, but he’s been the player of this series so far. He has 174 runs, which is 50 more than the next man (Rovman Powell) and a few more than the next two Englishmen combined (Jos Buttler has 95, Liam Livingstone 74). In a region that prides itself on its ability to clear the rope, Salt also has the most sixes in the series (11, one more than Powell). And he hit nine of them while visibly wilting in the heat.
Among the bowlers, the star has been another IPL reject, Adil Rashid, with six wickets for 68 off his 12 overs. His enduring excellence has made sure that England have been the better side at spin (11 wickets at an average of 23, as against their hosts’ five at 28). But West Indies have won the battle of the seamers by a street, taking 15 wickets at 28 compared to England’s eight at 38.
Today’s game, at the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba, starts at 4pm rather than lunchtime, but the sun should still be blazing down. According to the forecast, it will be 31 degrees at the start of play and 27 by the end. The toss is at 3.30 local time, 7.30pm GMT, so I’ll be back soon after that with the teams.
