West Indies Champions defeated England Champions by five wickets in the 12th match of the ongoing World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2024 which was played at the County Ground, Northampton on Tuesday.
West Indies now have four points from four matches. A win tomorrow against Australia Champions would ensure their place in the semi-finals.
Despite a difficult start as they had lost the legendary Chris Gayle in the first over, the Windies continued to play with aggressive intent and kept on hitting the English bowlers.
Chadwick Walton was the best performer for West Indies Champions with the bat as he scored 85 runs on 42 balls with the help of nine fours and five sixes.
Jasom Mohammed played a 24-ball 34-run innings but it was Ashley Nurse’s 47-run knock on 25 balls that propelled his side to victory.
Samit Patel bagged two while Ryan Jay Sidebottom, Bopara and Usman Afzaal got one wicket each.
Earlier, after being asked to bat first, England met with an early blow when their wicketkeeper batter Phil Mustard was removed for a duck in the first over.
However, the home side recovered quickly and Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell combined for 73 runs before the former departed for the pavilion after scoring 42 runs on just 19 balls.
After Pietersen’s dismissal, Bell and Ravi Bopara continued to smash the West Indies bowlers as the two formed a massive 118-run partnership.
Bopara lost his wicket after smashing 53 runs with six fours and two sixes while Bell missed his century by just three runs.
England concluded their innings at 209-5 in 20 overs while for West Indies, Samuel Badree, Jerome Taylor, Ashley Nurse and Darren Sammy took one wicket each.
Playing XIs
West Indies Champions: Dwayne Smith, Chadwick Walton (wk), Daren Sammy (c), Navin Stewart, Ashley Nurse, Kirk Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Tino Best, Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Jason Mohammed
England Champions: Kevin Pietersen (c), Phil Mustard (wk), Ian Bell, Kevin O Brien, Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara, Usman Afzaal, Samit Patel, Chris Schofield, Ryan Jay Sidebottom, Stuart Meaker
