ST JOHN’S, Antigua, Nov 1, CMC – Naavya Sharma snared four wickets, and skipper Thomas Rew blasted an unbeaten half century to lead England Lions to a lopsided eight-wicket win over West Indies ‘A’ in the opening T20 here on Sunday.
None of the home side’s batters managed to negotiate the pace of Sharma and Scott Currie, leading to them being skittled out for a meagre 98 in 19.4 overs after being sent in to bat at Conaree Sports Club.
Faced with a straightforward run chase, Rew slammed an even, unbeaten 50 off 24 balls with eight fours and one six, as England raced to 101 for two in just 10.1 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The West Indies never gathered any momentum in their innings, with Sharma trapping hard-hitting left hander Zachary Carter lbw in the first over with six runs on the board.
Kamil Pooran made 14 off 11 balls before becoming Sharma’s second victim to leave the Windies 21 for two in the third over.
Jewel Andrew and Alick Athanaze maintained a healthy run rate by adding 21 runs in two overs, before pacer Eddie Jack removed the former for 11.
From thereon, the West Indies struggled to form meaningful partnerships, while losing wickets at regular intervals.
Athanaze was bowled by leg spinner Calvin Harrison for a run-a-ball 20, with Shadrack Descarte, who scored a pedestrian 20 off 33 balls before becoming the first of Currie’s three wickets, the only other batter to score more than 10.
The West Indies’ lacklustre batting effort saw them lose their last four wickets for only five runs to crumble from 93 for six to 98 all out.
Sharma finished with figures of 4-19, Currie took 3-11 and Harrison 2-16.
With a small target to defend, West Indies got off to the perfect start when fast bowler Jahkeem Pollard had Ben McKinney caught for a duck at cover with the second ball of the innings.
But Rew and Rehan Ahmed hammered 53 runs off the next five overs to restore England’s dominance and erase any hopes the Windies had of a come-from-behind win.
Ahmed hit Pollard for two boundaries in his second over that went for 10 runs, with Rew joining in the action by striking Stewart Thompson for three consecutive boundaries in the ensuing over that yielded 16 runs.
Joshua James managed to break the stand by having Ahmed caught at backward square leg for 29 off 24 balls to make the score 53 for two after six overs.
The captain then dominated an unbroken partnership of 48 with James Rew, who ended on nine not out, as England breezed to an easy win.
He brought up his half century off 24 balls by cutting Thompson behind square for two with three runs needed for victory.
The second T20 is scheduled to be played on Tuesday at the same venue.
CMC rb/26