West Indies beat England by two wickets in Potchefstroom.
England 192 (46.3 overs) v West Indies 196/8 (41 overs).
Opting to bowl first in Potchefstroom, West Indies began well with Nathan Edward sending back Jaydn Denly in the opening over.
Skipper Ben McKinney, who has been in red-hot form, combined with Noah Thain, the half-centurion from the previous match, to lift England, but Edward struck again, dismissing the captain in a telling blow for England.
Hamza Sheikh hit the ground running, racing to 20 off 23 balls, but Tarrique Edward struck next, removing Thain for 40. Off-spinner Edward added another in his next over as the hazardous Luc Benkenstein perished for one.
Charlie Allison and Sheikh place on a small partnership, but Nathan Sealy place West Indies back on top with Allison’s wicket in the 28th over. Isai Thorne, fresh off a five-wicket haul, went on to dismiss Dominic Kelly and England were reduced to 135/6.
Sheikh, meanwhile, was waging a lone battle, making a fine half-century to lift England. His resurrection act, though, didn’t last long as Thorne once again showed his class taking his wicket for a stubborn 54.
Despite runs from the lower order, England couldn’t cross the 200-run trace and finished on 192 every out.
England bounced back early with the ball as Kelly sent back Adrian Weir in the first over for a duck. Stephan Pascal unleashed his strokes, even smashing three successive boundaries in the fifth over to reveal his intent early.
Farhan Ahmed accounted for Joshua Dorne, but Pascal’s aggression was matched by Jordan Johnson, who flaunted his strong back-foot game. The duo kept the run-rate high, piling pressure on England’s bowlers, who had a small total to defend.
It was Farhan who produced the breakthrough again when Johnson’s slice went straight to the point fielder. West Indies continued to recede for their shots but Tazeem Ali’s double blow in quick succession assign England factual on top.
Ali, who had taken three wickets against South Africa, dismissed Mavendra Dindyal and the in-form Jewel Andrew, coming off a century and a half-century in the previous games, in back-to-back overs to dent Windies’ charge.
But Pascal found support from Nathan Edward and the duo went about playing risk-free cricket to rebuild the West Indian innings. Pascal raised his half-century as Edward looked to hold his conclude safe.
Ali returned to the attack in the 30th over and in his second over of the spell, the leggie snared Pascal’s wicket to give England a tardy boost in the match. With the target still over 40 runs away, it was a huge opening for England.
Eddie Jack compounded West Indies’ worries soon after when he trapped Sealy in front for one. Edward, however, continued to play his strokes and with his namesake, Tarrique for support, West Indies kept England at bay.
A wicket with the scores level added tardy drama to the tense game, but Edward sealed a win with a boundary to finish unbeaten on 49.
Skipper Stephan Pascal revealed that he was cramping up when batting post the game:
“I was cramping up when I was batting. So long as I was in the middle, it was normal, but when I got to the sidelines, my heartbeat was high. We believe shown a lot of passion. It was a lapse of concentration on my section [that saw him lose his wicket], but Edward was up to the task.”
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