2ND T20I, ENGLAND Vs WEST INDIES, BRISTOL, 2025 : Buttler, Brook, Bethell and Banton Engineered a Flawless 2-0 T20I Series Victory .
Jos Buttler was the central character for England once more, with willing support from his middle-order co-conspirators Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell and Tom Banton, and they gave the hosts a 2-0 series lead. West Indies demonstrated an improved batting performance from the previous match, especially at the death, but it wasn’t sufficient to draw level in series and set up a grand prism. Instead, England strolled after the visitors’ 196/6 with four wickets and nine balls remaining. Buttler, Brook, Bethell and Banton Engineered a Flawless 2-0 T20I Series Victory .
TOSS-
England win the toss and opt to field.
PLAYING XI-
West Indies (Playing XI):
Evin Lewis, Johnson Charles, Shai Hope(w/c), Roston Chase, Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph
England (Playing XI):
Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood
WEST INDIES-
West Indies compiled themselves what looked a competitive total towards the end of the innings with substantial contributions from the top and the middle. After Luke Wood, playing his first T20I since September 2023, bowled Evin Lewis leg before off the very first ball of the match, Shai Hope (49 off 38) and Johnson Charles (47 off 39) rebuilt a little, if slightly slowly.
From the moment Hope was stumped on the 11th over, West Indies began losing their way through the middle overs. Sherfane Rutherford was next to go, to Bethell and the visitors reached the 15-over mark at 116/3. Wood came back and another procession began, Charles making him pay with three sixes and that big, powerful middle order hitting out at the end of the innings. Rovman Powell set the tone against Liam Dawson, smacking the ball for two fours and two sixes in a 20-run over. He added another six off Carse, and then he was gone, but that brought the highlight of the night – an Adil Rashid over that went for five sixes. Holder started the carnage by clubbing the first three deliveries for maximums, before turning the strike over to Shepherd who pummeled the remaining two. Wood was hit for 16 more in the 20th over when Holder struck two more fours before Shepherd was run-out off the penultimate ball. Enter Chase, who struck a big six that took WI just four runs short of 200 – a score that would not prove to be enough.
ENGLAND-
Before the middle order clung on, it was Ben Duckett and Buttler who set the base for the daunting chase. The former got after Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd, Buttler went hard at Alzarri Joseph and Jason Holder in the PowerPlay to ensure England stayed toe to toe with what they needed in chase as they came to the end of the PowerPlay at 58/1. Duckett’s in the eighth, off Shepherd, applied a brake to the English innings as Buttler and Brook trudged the team to 87/2 on scrappy side 10-over mark. And although Gudakesh Motie kept one end tight with a five-run over to rah up the pressure Brook made up for it against Shepherd in the next over.
There was a high full toss struck for a six over backward point, kind of a wide ball hit over cover for four, and kind of a wide full toss off the edge for four in a 20-run over. Hosein and Roston tried to keep West Indies in the equation, by taking Buttler and Brook in the 13th and 14th over of their Powerplay, but Bethell and Banton stalked out with identical, power-hungry intent. The pair struck a six each on both sides of Brook’s dismissal in the 14th over to reduce the equation to 62 off 36. The 15-run over was succeeded by a 14-run one, this time off Motie, who fared well until the last two balls, both of which Banton sent for a four and a six.
48 off 30 was smashed into insignificance by 28 off 24 as Banton welcomed back Joseph to the death with three sixes in the over – over deep square leg, down the ground and over extra cover. He perished off the very next ball attempting another big hit but his job was done with a match-defining 10-ball 26. Holder was doing fine with his off-cutters until Banton audaciously reverse-swept him for a four off the first ball of the 17th over, breaking a tidy over that had cost the side only seven runs off five balls. Joseph continued to spray it around, opening with a high-full toss for four leg byes down the leg side. Although he dismissed Will Jacks, he conceded 15 runs and England was left with two to get from as many overs. Brydon Carse took two off a four in the 19th over.
Brief Scores:
West Indies 196/6 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 49, Johnson Charles 48, Rovman Powell 34, Jason Holder 29*; Luke Wood 2-25) lost to England 199/6 in 18.3 overs (Jos Buttler 47, Harry Brook 34, Tom Banton 30*, Jacob Bethell 26) by 4 wickets -with 9 balls remaining.