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Andre Russell (Source-Twitter)
West Indies continued their blistering performance as they beat England by 4 wickets in the first T20I. Andre Russell was in focus as the Jamaican was making his return to international cricket after two years.
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England had previously lost the ODI series to West Indies with a 2-1 margin. This marked the first ODI series loss for the English side in 25 years to the West Indies. The ongoing five-match series is important with the 2024 T20 World Cup coming up.
Andre Russell makes a strong comeback to the national side
After over two years veteran powerhouse Andre Russell was back in the national side. The 35-year-old marked his return in fine style as he shone with the bat and ball. With the ball, Andre Russell picked 3/19 from his four-over spell. Phil Salt was the first wicket of the day for Russell for 40 followed by the wickets of Liam Livingstone and Rehan Ahmed. Just when West Indies found themselves in a spot Andre Russell combined well with Rovman Powell to take his side to an easy win.
The big-hitting Jamaican scored an unbeaten 29 runs from just 14 balls with two fours and two sixes. This return gives the Caribbean team a timely boost in a bid to make their statement for the upcoming world tournament.
Rovman Powell won the toss and put England into bat and the visitors were bowled out for 171. Skipper Jos Buttler and Phil Salt added 77 runs in just 6 overs as they took the West Indian bowlers to the cleaners. Salt scored his 40 runs off just 20 balls with 6 fours and a six. Jos Buttler shrugged off his bad form with 39 runs from 31 balls with 5 fours and a six.
Alzarri Joseph bowled with great pace to pick up 3 wickets but conceded 54 runs from his 3.3 overs. Jason Holder and Akeal Hossein picked a wicket each while Romario Shepherd took two crucial scalps.
Chasing 172 to win, Kyle Mayers hit four sixes on his way to 35, while Brandon King scored 22. Shai Hope kept his good batting form going top scoring for the home side with 36 runs. Skipper Rovman Powell was not out 31 off just 15 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. The winning hit came when Russell hit Sam Curran for a boundary to register the West Indian teams’ highest successful T20I chase.