England's returning captain Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bowl first against West Indies in the first T20I in Barbados on Sunday (November 10, 2024). This is the first game in a five-match series, which will be the last white-ball tour of 2024 for the visitors. (Match Blog | More Cricket News)
Batting all-rounder Dan Mousley made his T20I debut for England, while tearaway fast bowler Jofra Archer was excluded from the playing XI.
Playing XIs
England: Philip Salt(w), Will Jacks, Jos Buttler(c), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Reece Topley.
West Indies: Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie.
The match will mark Jos Buttler's much-awaited comeback to international cricket, with the English skipper last having played the T20 World Cup semi-final against India, which the Brits lost.
After inviting Windies to bat first, Saqib Mahmood provided the first breakthrough removing the opener batter Brandon King in his first over of the match. He soon dismissed the other opener Evin Lewis.
Nicholas Pooran (38 off 29 balls) and Rovman Powell (18 off 10 balls) tried to run the scorecard but Adil Rashid halted the middle-order from scoring runs.
All-rounders Ande Russell and Romario Shepherd added crucial 30s which helped the Windies take the momentum in the death overs. Gudakesh Motie's 14-ball 33 played a big role in bringing the hosts to a convincing total of 182 runs.
Mahmood took four wickets, Rashid claimed three, and Jamie Overton and Liam Livingstone took one wicket each.
England openers Phil Salt and Will Jacks gave a blazing start and added 73 runs in the powerplay. Jacks was dismissed on the last delivery of the powerplay.
Returning after a long break, Jos Buttler was gone golden duck but the debutant Bethell was sent at number four to bat and he made a quick 36-ball 58 to help Phil Salt win the match for England with 19 balls and eight wickets in hand.
The second T20I of the series will be played at the same venue on Monday, 11 November.
