Lewis powers West Indies to victory over new-look England

First ODI, Antigua

England 209 all out (45.1 overs): Livingstone 48 (49); Motie 4-41

West Indies 157-2 (25.5 overs): Lewis 94 (69); Livingstone 1-32

West Indies win by eight wickets (DLS method)

Scorecard

Opener Evin Lewis blitzed 96 as the West Indies hammered England by eight wickets in the first one-day international in Antigua.

The Trinidadian led from the front, striking five fours and eight sixes in his 69-ball innings, driving his side to within sight of their rain-revised target at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, falling shortly before the end as he attempted to bring his century up with a six.

His side were chasing a modest target after an inexperienced visiting line-up posted just 209 inside 46 overs, with left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie taking 4-41.

Stand-in captain Liam Livingstone struck 48 from 49 deliveries, putting on 72 for the fifth wicket with Sam Curran (37), but they were the only two batters to pass 30 as England struggled to find their rhythm.

With the ball, England seamers Jofra Archer and John Turner, one of four debutants in the side, frequently troubled Lewis and his fellow opener Brandon King, bowling at high pace and drawing edges.

However they were unable to make a breakthrough and Lewis began to settle, clearing the leg-side boundary on five occasions as he reached 50 from 46 deliveries.

Rain took the two sides off shortly afterwards, but when play resumed with the home side’s target adjusted to 157, Lewis carried on where he left off, falling with his team 13 short of a win.

Captain Shai Hope came to the crease and hit the winning runs in the 26th over to complete a comprehensive victory.

The two teams will meet again at the same ground on Saturday (13:30 GMT), before a final ODI in Barbados on Wednesday.

Leading a youthful line-up to the Caribbean was always going to be a tough ask of first-time captain Livingstone, not helped by a lost toss where he admitted that, like opposite number Hope, he would have bowled.

Instead, his charges had to bat on a challenging surface that offered plenty of swing and grip.

Openers Phil Salt and Will Jacks combined for 39, but both struggled to unleash their trademark bombastic pinch-hitting and they fell in quick succession, skying catches off the bowling of Jayden Seales.

Jordan Cox (17), playing in just his fifth career one-day match, and Jacob Bethell (27) also failed to pummel their way into the game, sending leading edges off Matthew Forde high into the Antigua sky and into the hands of waiting fielders.

Livingstone briefly looked like he might be able to drag the game back in England’s favour, striking three fours and two sixes from his 49-ball innings, but he fell tamely, chipping Motie’s delivery back to the bowler two short of his half-century.

That was the first of four successive wickets to fall to the spinner, before seamer Alzarri Joseph returned to wrap up the innings.

Lewis and King, who hit a scratchy 30 from 56, may have struggled initially, but Lewis found his groove towards the end of the powerplay and went on to continually lift England’s bowlers over the boundary ropes.

The opening pair put on 118 before King was caught by Will Jacks off Livingstone’s bowling.

Lewis would find the hands of Bethell as he tried to clear long-off, but by that point the match was over as a contest.

With England’s Test tour of Pakistan only finishing on Saturday, it meant a number of key players were not considered for this Caribbean tour, comprising three ODIs and five T20s.

Harry Brook, Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson are among the players skipping this series before the pre-Christmas Test tour of New Zealand.

Meanwhile regular captain Jos Buttler was forced to miss out with a calf injury, while veterans such as Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood have not featured since last autumn’s World Cup.

It meant England fielded an inexperienced line-up in Antigua, including four debutants in Turner, Cox, and all-rounders Dan Mousley and Jamie Overton.

Indeed spinner Adil Rashid outnumbered the caps of the rest of the line-up put together, with 140 to 127.

Furthermore, some of England’s debutants lacked experience of 50-over cricket, with Cox and Mousley playing their first List A games in 20 months and three years respectively.

It has arguably left them unprepared for the challenges of the longer white-ball format, with former England captain Sir Alastair Cook noting on TNT Sports “there’s no experience of working out different situations, for when you’re thrown into international cricket under increased scrutiny”.

Even those with greater experience, such as the 30-year-old Overton, looked rusty, as the Surrey player was dismissed lbw for a first-ball duck by Motie.

With so many absentees and numerous debutants jammed between Test tours, the series has the air of an afterthought.

But this is the ninth of only 14 ODIs scheduled between the World Cup and February’s Champions Trophy – England must emerge from the series with valuable experience or they could face another embarrassing international tournament exit.

England captain Liam Livingstone: “I think the test we have to come over the next few games is with the rhythms of 50-over cricket. We have to get up to speed as quickly as possible. We know someone in the top six has to get a big score.

“50 overs is a long time. We wanted to put the West Indies under pressure. Conditions change and it’s up to us to read them and work out what is a good score. We didn’t adapt. West Indies bowled well and we lost wickets at key stages.

“John Turner bowled really well and was unlucky not to get a wicket.”

West Indies skipper Shai Hope: “Jayden Seales and Matthew Forde set the tone with the new ball, especially in the middle overs. We wanted some early wickets and they did that. The consistency and the discipline was the biggest factor today.

“Evin Lewis is experienced and has been around for a long time. You can see he is a different beast. He’s hungry. I’m glad with the scores he’s getting now.”