Key events
4th over: England 33-1 (Smith 16, Buttler 12) Jason Holder changes ends to good effect. An early wide didn’t bode well but he was in control after that and conceded only singles. Buttler, on the charge, was also beaten by a nice slower ball.
West Indies have dragged it back after conceding 16 from the first over.
3rd over: England 28-1 (Smith 14, Buttler 10) Alzarri Joseph, who bowled some scintillating spells in the ODI series, comes into the attack. He starts pretty well, beating Buttler with a wide delivery and conceding only six – no boundaries – from the over. You’d take that in the Powerplay, now and forever.
“Evening Rob,” writes Guy Hornsby. “Following this one from a rainy train to Oxford for the wedding of two wonderful cricket nerds, Josh and Mel (Josh’s stag do was a two-innings T20 Test match: he’s one of us). I too am very much on the Liam Dawson wagon, for no other reason that he’s the best spinning all-rounder we have. I wish him success, because you feel there’s a (long shot) Test career rebirth there should he go well and poor Bashir get sliced and diced by the Indian batters (which I hope doesn’t happen, just for his career). But West Indies are a very decent T20 side, so this should be a good evening for those in Durham. Game on!”
I assume that’s the only wagon you’ll be on this weekend. All the very best to Josh and Mel for tomorrow; if their story doesn’t inspire somebody to set up a dating app solely for cricket nerds, I don’t know what will. Imagine it! Interests: friendship, dating, Vince Wells’ England career, the evolution of the wobble seam, loneliness, nurse!
2nd over: England 22-1 (Smith 13, Buttler 5) Shepherd greets Buttler with a leg-side wide, then a full ball that Buttler swings lazily back over the bowler’s head for four. And why not?
“With almost perfect OBO timing, Scotland have just beaten the Netherlands in an ODI at Forthill CC in sunny Dundee by 44 runs in the latest of this week’s tri-series World Cup qualifiers, pathway SWOOSH! BLAP!” writes Simon McMahon. “Probably a couple of hundred there, with Nepal next up on Sunday. Riddle me this, what’s the smallest crowd recorded for an ODI/T20 in England, or indeed around the world? I know you’ll have to check…”
I really will, and I’ve no idea where to start.
WICKET! England 16-1 (Duckett c Hope b Shepherd 1)
Romario Shepherd, who has just joined the squad after playing in the IPL final on Tuesday, strikes third ball. It was a clever bit of bowling, a slower ball that Duckett spooned high in the air. Shai Hope did the rest.
1st over: England 16-0 (Smith 13, Duckett 1) Jason Holder opens the bowling to Jamie Smith, who clumps the ball through mid-off for four. Holder calls from some sawdust after bowling a leg-side wide, which leads to a delay of around 90 seconds.
When play resumes, Smith lifts Holder nonchalantly over the leg side for four and mangles another boundary to the left of mid-on. Sixteen from the over. The power and variety of Smith’s strokeplay make him such a dangerous proposition in the Powerplay.
It’s not the warmest night in Durham – Ben Duckett is wearing long sleeves as he walks out with Jamie Smith – but it’s dry and the forecast suggests that will remain the case.
Team news
Liam Dawson returns to the England side for the first time since 2022. That’s a major victory for the Wisden podcast, not to mention Liam Dawson. Jamie Smith will open in the absence of Phil Salt, who is on paternity leave, and Will Jacks continues his ODL role at No7.
West Indies have a much stronger side than in the ODI series, with frightening depth in their batting – Andre Russell is at No9.
England Smith, Duckett, Buttler (wk), Brook (c), Banton, Bethell, Jacks, Dawson, Carse, Rashid, Potts.
West Indies Charles, Lewis, Hope (c/wk) Chase, Rutherford, Powell, Holder, Shepherd, Motie, A Joseph.
England win the toss and bat
“Looks like a good pitch and hopefully we can put a good score on the board,” says Harry Brook. The local lad Matthew Potts, who was omitted from the Test squad earlier in the week, will make his IT20 debut.
Big interview: Andre Russell
The man with the biggest muscles in cricket talks to Andre Russell.
“The one off Hardik Pandya at the Wankhede in the 2016 World Cup,” he says when asked to name his favourite six. “That one was just massive. Perfect swing. Right out of the middle.” There’s a moment of silence before Russell blows out his cheeks at the memory. “That one was crazy.” You can look it up and decide for yourself, watch the umpire Richard Kettleborough’s chuckle of astonishment as the ball soars into the top tier of Mumbai’s famous stadium and he signals the obvious. Yeah, that’s a six all right.
Preamble
BANG! KAPOW! MADON! THWACK! SOCK! OOOFF!
Those of a certain [proximity to the Grim Reaper age will know these words were all used during fights in the Batman series of the 1960s. (Except MADON!, but that’s another story.) A few of them will be needed tonight as well, and not only to describe the post-pub dialectics up and down the land.
There should be plenty of THWACK!ing at Chester-le-Street, where England play West Indies – the six-hitting kings of Twenty20 – in the first of a three-match series.
England won the ODI series fairly comfortably, but the addition of Rovman Powell, Johnson Charles, Romario Shepherd, Andre Russell and others makes this a much stronger West Indies team.
It should be competitive. It’ll definitely require capital letters and exclamation marks.
The match starts at 6.30pm.