Having lost the series already, West Indies registered a resounding win to take the fourth T20I at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia by beating England by five wickets. Shai Hope and Evin Lewis scored match-winning half-centuries to help the hosts successfully chase down a daunting total of 219 - the highest total chased by Windies at home in T20Is.
Hope was awarded the Player of the Match (POTM) for his brilliant 54-run knock off just 24 deliveries. Hope hammered three sixes and seven fours during the course of his innings and batted at a strike rate of 225.00 which allowed the home team to steer clear of the asking rate.
His opening partner Lewis also batted in his trademark style and dented England's bowling attack which lacked experience. Lewis was on top of his game and aggregated 68 runs off 31 balls with the help of four boundaries and seven maximums. Together, Lewis and Hope added 136 runs for the opening wickets in just 9.1 overs and made life extremely easier for the rest of the Windies batters.
Though leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed bowled with a lot of guile and dismissed wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer within a span of four overs, West Indies still cruised past the Three Lions as skipper Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford capitalized on the brisk start provided by the opening pair.
Powell (38 runs off 23 balls) and Rutherford (29* off 17 balls) launched an onslaught on the tourists and ensured that the effort put in by the openers didn't go in vain.
West Indies scaled the 219-run target with an over to spare in the end. Rehan claimed figures of 3/43 in his four overs.
Earlier in the day, Powell's decision to field first fell in favour of the visitors as they played with a lot of flair. Openers Will Jacks and Phil Salt stitched a 54-run stand before the former fell on the last delivery of the fifth over.
Salt (55 off 35 balls) then paired up with his captain Jos Buttler (38 runs off 23 balls) and added another 48 runs to England's total. Roston Chase got the prized wicket of Salt in the 10th over and his fellow spinner Gudakesh Motie (2/40) helped the hosts see the back of Buttler in the 13th over.
Though Liam Livingstone also departed two overs and a half later, Jacob Bethell's fluent innings kept Windies on the back foot. Bethell scored an unbeaten 62 off 32 balls and struck four boundaries and five sixes during his stay at the crease. A couple of lusty blows from Sam Curran (24* off 13 balls) in the end took England to 218 in their 20 overs.
