Innings England 418 for 6 (Buttler 150, Morgan103) v West Indies
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
A thumping century by Eoin Morgan was surpassed by an innings of breathtaking butality from Jos Buttler to lead England to a mammoth total of 418 for 6 in the fourth ODI against West Indies in Grenada.
Morgan punched his way to 103 off 86 deliveires, while Buttler pummelled West Indies into submission with 150, his highest ODI score and seventh century in the format, off just 77 balls. Their 204-run stand for the fourth wicket off just 122 deliveries looked like being the knockout blow for West Indies, who would need to produce the second-highest successful chase in ODI history.
In the process, England broke the world record for the number of sixes in an ODI innings with 24 – and 12 of those came off Buttler’s bat – to pass the milestone set by West Indies the the series opener in Barbados by one.
Openers Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales set England up well, both scoring fifties and putting on a 100-run partnership as the under-card to Morgan and Buttler’s main event.
Morgan copped a decent body blow of his own when Buttler smacked a Jason Holder delivery straight back into his batting partner’s ribs. Morgan limped through for a single before receiving treatment and then shrugged off the obvious discomfort by thumping the next ball for six.
Morgan meted out more punishment in Holder’s next over, carting him for 21 runs, and then Buttler hit 22 off Brathwaite in the next as the pair snatched 58 runs off 15 balls.
Fittingly, Morgan and Buttler were both on 94 but Buttler won the race to 100, running two in a break from the slog fest to bring up his ton off just 60 deliveries. Buttler could have been out a short time later when he smashed a Holder full toss to Sheldon Cottrell at third man but the ball was high no ball and Buttler was able to continue his display.
Morgan brought up his century with a six off Holder, another full toss which saw Morgan drop to one knee and middle the ball sweetly over long-on. He was out a short time later to a Cottrell slower ball, holing out to Holder at long-off.
Bairstow (56 off 43 balls) took off at race pace, clubbing three consecutive fours off Holder in the fourth over. Devendra Bishoo fared even worse against the same brand of power hitting a short time later when he went for three consecutive sixes as Bairstow brought up his 50 off just 31 balls.
Then it was Hales’s turn as he took 19 runs off Ashley Nurse in the 10th over and England closed the first power play with 88, one run more than in their 361-run chase in the first match of the series.
They were timely innings for both batsmen with Bairstow enduring a lean patch and Hales trying to force his way into the reckoning for World Cup selection in a side whose top order is well settled.
Before this knock Bairstow had not scored an ODI 50 since last June, against Australia at Chester-le-Street. During this tour of the Caribbean, he had only passed 30 twice previously, with 34 in the first ODI in Bridgetown and 52 in the first innings of the second Test in Antigua. But it all came to an end when he tried to turn an Oshane Thomas delivery down towards third man and ended up chopping onto his stumps.
Hales made the most of his chance to open in the place of Jason Roy, who was ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury. He pressed on despite losing Bairstow and then Joe Root at the other end to reach 82 off 73 balls before he skied a Nurse delivery down the ground and Shimron Hetmyer sprinted from long-on to long-off to pull the ball down from full stretch. (ESPNCricinfo)
