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An inspired bowling performance accompanied by brilliant fielding enabled the West Indies to defend a meagre total of 113 against the World T20 Champions, England. Marlon Samuels's run a ball 34 formed the cornerstone as West Indies made what at the time looked a paltry score of 113-5 in 20 overs. England's reply was pathetic as they were bowled out for just 88 within 20 overs. The young West Indian rookies not only squared the 2 match T20 series but also dished out England's first defeat of the summer.

England, who had not lost a game since July 3, won the toss and decided to bowl first on a spin-friendly track at the Oval, London in the 2nd T20 International against a very much understrength West Indies side. The English think tank dropped Steve Finn to the bench for this game and handed Scott Brothwick, the leg spinning all-rounder his T20 International debut. Meanwhile, the ragged tourists made three changes with Krishmar Santokie, Gary Mathurin and Miles Bascome coming in for Fidel Edwards, Nkruma Bonner and Danza Hyatt.

The inventive Graeme Swann opted to open the bowling with Tim Bresnan and the left arm orthodox Samit Patel. Patel almost immediately derived purchase from the wicket as a loud leg before appeal was turned down against Johnson Charles. Bresnan managed to tie down the hard hitting Dwayne Smith by bowling in the right areas. The 6 feet 2 inch tall Jade Dernbach came on and drew first blood by trapping Dwayne Smith lbw for a paltry 11 with the West Indies running out of power in the powerplay!  Miles Bascome aggravated the agony as he missed a straighter one from Patel. England controlled the first 6 overs as the hapless Caribbeans scored only 26 .

The spin trio of Patel, debutant Borthwick and Skipper Swann kept the pressure on, giving no room for the batsmen to breathe easy. The talented Scott Brothwick comprehensively bowled Johnson Charles with a gem of a googly in the 9th over. Half-way through the innings the West Indians were tottering at 44-3 with the onus on the experienced Marlon Samuels to enhance the scoring rate. Surprisingly there was no sign of agression and urgency from both Samuels and Chris Barnwell as Brothwick finished off his spell with eye-catching figures of 1-15.

The English spinners were relentless and were backed up by razor sharp fielding. Desperation got the better of Barnwell as Alex Hales completed a stunning catch in the deep as Samit Patel took his 2nd wicket. Ravi Bopara also kept the batsmen in check with his canny change of pace. Marlon Samuels, who inherited a bit of fluency, brought up a welcome boundary on the final ball of the 17th over. Captain Darren Sammy also cashed in with a flat batted six but unfortunately for the West Indies perished in the same over.

Jade Dernbach with his baffling slower balls and toe crushers proved to be mighty effective even as Samuels reached a run a ball 34. The last over from Ravi Bopara produced 10 runs and West Indies struggled to an abysmal 113-5 in 20 overs, the lowest ever score batting first at the Oval in an International T20 affair. The English spinners thoroughly dominated the Caribbean batsmen and the hosts looked all set to canter to another win to clinch the series.

Early wickets saw West Indies crawl back into the game as England lost 3 wickets for just 23 runs in the powerplay. Darren Sammy took a leaf out of Swann's book by introducing Garey Mathurin in the 2nd over. Craig Kieswetter,who opened his account with a neat boundary down to fine leg, fell to Mathurin soon after for 10. Krishmar Santokie's lovely offcutter undid Alex Hales for a painstaking 2 and set the alarm bells ringing for the World T20 champions. Santokie's well camouflaged slower deliveries proved to be a mystery while Mathurin wreaked havoc at the other end, knocking over Ravi Bopara for 3.

Ben Stokes, who helped to churn out 16 runs from Devendra Bishoo's 1st over, calmed the nerves in the dressing room. But England suffered another set back as Jonny Bairstow surrendered to Mathurin, whose 3-9 from 4 overs proved to be a game-changing spell. The required rate increased and the English shoulders dropped down.The West Indies were running riot as a bazooka throw from backward point ended Samit Patel's stay in the middle and Devendra Bishoo got the better of a well set Stokes the following over. The collapse continued as Bresnan holed out to Mathurin in the 11th over. The likes of Darren Sammy and Andre Russell kept the pressure mounting with England 77-7 at the end of the 13th over.

Darren Sammy who incredibly ran out Jos Butler tilted the scales completely in favour of the Windies as England collapsed to 84-8. England committed suicide as another couple of mix-ups and poor running between the wickets amidst adversity saw them surrender to the Caribbean Calypso spirit. The English were bundled out for 88 in 16.4 overs which meant that the young West Indian side romped home by 25 runs.

Teams:

England: Craig Kieswetter, Alex Hales, Ravi Bopara, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Butler, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann(captain), Jade Dernbach, Tim Bresnan, Scott Brothwick

West Indies: Johnson Charles, Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels, Christopher Barnwell, Derwin Christian, Darren Sammy(captain), Andre Russell, Gary Mathurin, Devendra Bishoo, Miles Bascome, Krishmar Santokie.

Mini scorecard:

West Indies: 113-5 (20 overs,5.65 rpo)
Marlon Samuels 35* (35) Samit Patel 2-22
Johnson Charles 21 (38) Scott Borthwick 1-15

England: 88 all out( 16.4 overs, 5.28 rpo)
Ben Stokes 31(23)  Garey Mathurin 3-9
Scott Borthwick 14(16)  Krishmar Santokie 1-17

West Indies win by 25 runs

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20