Kent batsman Zak Crawley fell just shy of a half-century as England’s white-ball woes continued with a four-wicket defeat in the opening game of their One-Day International Series against West Indies on Sunday.
Crawley, 25, had put on 71 runs with top scorer Harry Brook (71) for the fourth wicket – despite being dropped twice – before Crawley was run-out by Alick Athanaze in a mix-up during England’s 325 all out.
England had been firm favourites at the halfway stage on a challenging pitch in Antigua, which was offering uneven bounce and turn for the spinners.
But needing an unlikely 106 from the last 10 overs with five wickets left, unbeaten centurion Shai Hope was supported by Romario Shepherd’s 48 from 28 balls.
Captain Hope then finished West Indies’ chase in style with three maximums in the 49th over off Sam Curran (0-98) to end 109 not out from just 83 balls as the hosts won with seven balls to spare. England’s loss piles more pressure on captain Jos Buttler and coach Matthew Mott.
They are due to play West Indies at the same venue on Wednesday and will finish the three-match series at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, this Saturday.
