Evin Lewis and Gudakesh Motie contribute in massive West Indies victory in the first ODI vs England at Antigua.
Evin Lewis fireworks, Gudakesh Motie four-for power West Indies to huge win.
As England looks to revive their once-famous white-ball fortunes, the road to the 2027 World Cup will be long, difficult, and—perhaps most importantly—unfamiliar to a new generation of cricketers whose lack of experience in 50-over cricket was all too evident in Antigua. This is due to the evidence of a wildly lopsided first ODI against the West Indies.
But to the man who shot them down, the rhythms of the genre weren’t quite so mysterious. Before announcing his second coming with a 61-ball century in Sri Lanka this weekend, Evin Lewis had been out of the West Indies’ ODI plans for over three years.
He then added a shockingly aggressive 94 off 69 balls, destroying a stodgy outfield and a two-paced surface to smash eight sixes, one for each of the wickets that his team ultimately won. If he had made a proper connection with the shot that took him out, an inside-out slap to wide long-off, with victory already secured, it may have even been nine for nine.
The only real threat to the West Indies’ supremacy was the rain, which came at the end of the 15th over of their chase and momentarily raised the possibility of an extremely unfair washout. Gudakesh Motie’s four-wicket haul had destroyed England’s hopes of a competitive total, so the outcome had hardly been in doubt.
The timid cuisine that had preceded the run-chase was completely out of proportion to its force and poise. Lewis himself exceeded that total four times, having waited just 11 deliveries before lifting the lively pace of John Turner over the ropes at deep backward square. In contrast, England had to wait until the 32nd over of their innings before their stand-in captain Liam Livingstone hit the first of their two sixes of the evening.
While Jofra Archer and Turner, making his eagerly anticipated international debut, repeatedly probed his outside edge in a frenetic but unrewarded powerplay gambit, Brandon King, Lewis’ sidekick, provided a more grounded appraisal of the challenging batting conditions by hammering along to 30 from 56 balls. Livingstone’s half-tracker lbw was deemed to have pitched outside leg, although King’s agonising stay might have ended in the first over following the rain delay. He ended a 118-run opening stand with a full-blooded full through a Jacob Bethell long-hop that picked out deep square leg instead, which was possibly his most forceful shot of the evening.
However, the damage was already done. So Keacy Carty and Shai Hope were able to complete the victory with 24.1 overs remaining from their initial allotment. Even after accounting for the loss of numerous important players due to injuries and Test commitments, England’s deficiencies had been extremely obvious.