England narrowly fell to a 3-2 T20I series defeat to the West Indies after a close encounter in the final match in Tarouba – here are the player ratings for each England player that featured in the series.
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Phil Salt – 9.5
5 matches, 331 runs at 82.75, SR: 185.96, HS: 119
Easily the pick of the batters from both sides in the series, Salt’s twin centuries were the main reason England were able fight their way back in from a 2-0 deficit. While Harry Brook stole his plaudits at the end of the third match, Salt’s 119 stood head and shoulders above in the fourth. With Jason Roy looking further and further out of the picture as England’s white ball opener, it was a coming of age series for Salt, who’s translated what he’s long promised into substantial returns. The only slight blip on his record was some questionable keeping.
Jos Buttler – 6
4 matches, 161 runs at 32.20, SR: 143.75 HS: 55
Following a duck in the first match and under pressure as captain with his side staring down the barrel of another defeat, handing the gloves to Salt proved a needed release for Buttler. Back-to-back 50s followed to support Salt’s blitz’s and he ended the series looking closer towards the slightly less heavily burdened Buttler of before the World Cup.
Will Jacks – 2
5 matches, 73 runs at 14.60, SR: 146.00, HS: 24
0 wickets, ER: 14.00
After the shock of not being given a central contract, Jacks did little to highlight England management’s mistake in this series. A couple of starts and nothing substantial means he comes out of the Caribbean still needing to cement his place in the XI, and the squad, for next year’s T20 World Cup.
Harry Brook – 6
5 matches, 50 runs at 16.66, SR: 185.18, HS: 31*
Brook’s almost sole contribution to the series with the bat was a spectacular one, if short. Coming in with the series on the line with two overs to go in the third match, he pulled off one of the great T20I cameos. The first ball went for six and all but two of those that followed also found the boundary. Seven balls, four sixes and a successful chase of 223. Despite that lack of consistent runs, it was a timely reminder of exactly what Brook is capable of.
Ben Duckett – 1
1 match, 14 runs at 14.00, SR: 116.66, HS: 14
Duckett only played one match in the series before England flipped their balance and brought Moeen Ali into the side.
Liam Livingstone – 6.5
5 matches, 156 runs at 39.00, SR: 162.50, HS: 54*
0 wickets, ER: 12.00
That his 54* in the fourth match of the series was Livingstone’s first half century in T20Is seems wrong, but is evident of the space he’s occupied as a lower order blaster. But, with a move up to No.4 for the latter part of the series comes greater possibilities for more substantial knocks, and his strike rate of 162.50 from the series shows he’s approaching the role as all-guns-blazing as ever.
Moeen Ali – 3
4 matches, 45 runs at 45.00, SR: 132.35, HS: 23
2 wickets at 37.00, ER: 9.25, BBI: 1-20
Putting Moeen in as a No.6 feels like an odd move for a side looking to move forward, especially given his reduced role with the ball. The couple of starts he made in the two innings he batted in the series were reasonable, to go with the couple of wickets he took with the ball.
Sam Curran – 5
5 matches, 75 runs at 25.00, SR: 122.95, HS: 50
6 wickets at 22.16, ER: 11.91, BBI: 2-25
Despite being named Player of the Tournament in the T20 World Cup 12 months ago, Curran feels like he’s fighting for relevance in England’s white ball sides. Following the ODI World Cup debacle, and the ODI series in which he struggled further, he fared slightly better in the shorter format. He also scored his first T20I half-century batting at four in the second game. He continued to expensive with the ball.
Rehan Ahmed – 6
4 matches, 11 runs at 5.50, SR: 157.14, HS: 10*
6 wickets at 27.33, ER: 10.93, BBI: 3-39
Rehan looked more comfortable as an England regular throughout the series, and under Adil Rashid’s stewardship it felt like the beginning of the passing of the leg-spinning baton. Their differences complimented the spin-duality well during the series, even if Rehan still looked raw at times, the boundary blitzes he suffered at the hands of Kyle Mayers and Brandon King exemplifying that. What will be most pleasing for England however is the Rehan’s obvious progress a year on from his international debut.
Chris Woakes – 4
4 matches, 4 wickets at 25.50, ER: 9.00, BBI: 1-15
Consistent wickets from Woakes without the impact England would have wanted from him. He missed the third T20I for Gus Atkinson to come in but after he was carted in his two overs, Woakes was back for the final two. He went at more than eight an over in the final T20I with a small total to defend.
Adil Rashid – 9
5 matches, 9 wickets at 13.77, ER: 6.20, BBi: 2-11
Superb as ever from Rashid, going past his 100th T20I wicket in the series. He was, like so many times before, the one bowler England could rely on for consistent wickets and to halt the flow of boundaries. His performances pushed him to the top of the ICC T20I bowling charts before the final match of the series.
Gus Atkinson – 1
1 match, 0 wickets, ER: 16.50
A chastening experience for Atkinson in his only appearance in the series. He was taken to the cleaners by Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell in the two overs he bowled.
Tymal Mills – 4
3 matches, 2 wickets at 50.00, ER: 11.11, BBI: 2-30
A good performances at the death in the second T20I, in which he dismissed Andre Russell and Jason Holder with the final two balls of the innings, was the only contribution of note from Mills. He lost his place to Reece Topley for the final three matches.
Reece Topley – 7
3 matches, 6 wickets at 14.33, ER: 7.47, BBI: 3-37
Back from the finger injury which cut his World Cup short, Topley took three wickets in his second appearance of the series and returned figures of 2-17 in the finale. Straight back to near his best for the left-armer.