Good afternoon sports fans, I hope all’s well! I was driving all day today so couldn’t stay up to watch the game but I don’t mind telling you, I went to bed last night with a heavy heart and a restless mind. The sun arose this morning and I was greeted to the news from my wife and Editor At Large Emily……….”Good win for England last night!”
England have finally got off the mark in earnest with a convincing win over co-hosts West Indies. Looking every bit the reigning T20 World Champions Jos Buttler’s boys from Blighty soaked up the pressure and took the 2 points!
Being played at The Darren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, England won the toss and decided to field. England do like a good chase, it’s true, I would always question the logic of letting Windies set a score though……..they can bat anyone out of a game!
There is a reason Jos is England captain rather than me, the skipper seemed to read the pitch perfectly. Windies batters seemed to get bogged down in the pitch with King, Charles and my namesake and bronze star Yorkshireman Nicky Pooran all chewing up balls.
Gold Star Yorkshireman Adil Rashid bowled beautifully again and along with a couple of good overs from his spin twin Moeen Ali helped restrict Windies to an under par 180.
When it was England’s turn to bat the pitch looked to be playing its tricks on the 3 Lions. Captain and Vice Captain Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali both struggled to get the ball away with a run a ball 25 and 13 respectively.
What England needed was a couple of batters to take the game by the neck and ring it! Enter Phil Salt and Jonny Bairstow.
Phil Salt only plays cricket one way, violently. Salt looks at a cricket ball and see’s a target, he looks at a bowler and see’s a victim. It doesn’t always come off but when it does, it’s a thing to behold. This morning, on the beautiful Island of St Lucia, Phil had a classic innings. He smashed the logo off the ball and scored a devastating 87 off just 47 balls. Jonny Bairstow, yet another Yorkshireman also showed the Windies bowlers pure distain with 48 off 26, bringing England over the line with time to spare and stopping West Indies in their tracks!
I’ll be back back tomorrow with loads more action from the super 8’s, it’s bloody exciting stuff!
Thanks for being with me,
Nick
All The Cricket 
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