Southampton: England endured a mixed day in the field as they lost skipper Eoin Morgan and batsman Jason Roy to injury, dropped two catches, yet still managed to canter to victory over the West Indies on Friday in cold, mainly overcast conditions at the Cricket World Cup.
Joe Root was the star of the show as he smashed a perfect unbeaten 100 as England chased down the 213-run target with more than 100 balls to spare.
Root also picked up his first two wickets in one-day international cricket since January 2018, both caught-and-bowled, and Barbados-born paceman Jofra Archer (3-30) picked up his first wickets against the Windies. Archer was expensive in his opening spell but had a chance for a hat-trick in his second, picking up his first wicket on a referral to the TV umpire when Nicholas Pooran (63) got a fine edge off his glove to England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.
Archer trapped Sheldon Cottrell lbw on the next delivery and later got his third when he had Carlos Brathwaite (14) caught behind with a ball that brushed the batsman’s shoulder.
Mark Wood (3-18) finished off the innings when he bowled Shannon Gabriel with a yorker as the last four West Indies wickets fell for just 10 runs.
The late collapse started the ball after England captain Morgan hobbled from the field after having back muscle spasms in the 40th over, when West Indies was 202-6 and before Archer had taken a wicket.
Making matters worse for England, Morgan was the second batsman to hobble off the field in the first innings. Big-hitting opener Roy strained his left hamstring in the eighth over and didn’t return to the field. Roy wasn’t allowed to bat any higher than No. 7 as England easily chased down 213 to win. Root cracked his century off 94 balls and Ben Stokes hit the winning boundary batting at No. 4 after Jonny Bairstow (45) and Chris Woakes. (40) had departed. Tournament favourites England have won three of their four group matches, but the injuries to Roy and cast a shadow over this win.
— Agencies
