Key events
Two changes for England
England show they mean business by bringing back their two senior bowlers, Adil Rashid and Jofra Archer. They replace Dan Mousley and Saqib Mahmood, so we won’t see Mahmood and Archer sharing the new ball. But we will see Rashid and Rehan Ahmed bowling leg-breaks and googlies – the sorcerer and his apprentice.
Toss: England win and bowl first
Jos Buttler calls right – and goes with the flow of this series. Every game has been won by the side batting second.
Preamble
Evening everyone and welcome to the fifth act of another sporting drama. Some might say it was a dead rubber, but they would be missing the point. In a sport that loves its records the way cricket does, rubbers never die. Any of the 22 players could post a career-best tonight, score a hundred, grab a four-for or do something that hasn’t been done before in nearly 20 years of T20 internationals.
And, as we saw last night, the competitive juices will still flow. England could go home glowing with satisfaction after a resounding 4-1 win, or lose again and leave West Indies on a roll. It’s not all to play for, but there’s still enough: pride, a place in the team, and of course entertainment – the chance to fire up new fans or put a smile on the faces of the older ones.
It’s the last game in charge for Marcus Trescothick, cricket’s answer to Lee Carsley, though he will stay on as an assistant coach when Brendon McCullum becomes the overall supremo. It’s also the final fling with the white-ball squad for two lower-profile England coaches, Carl Hopkinson (fielding) and Richard Dawson (spin bowling).
Both were there in Australia when England won the T20 World Cup two years ago, and Hopkinson had also been part of the group that lifted the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019 – when some smart fielding, by Jason Roy and Jos Buttler, played rather a vital role in the dénouement. Dawson and Hopkinson are already guaranteed to go out with a series win, but you suspect Buttler will be itching to give them one last victory to go with their leaving cards.
Play starts at 8pm GMT, and I’ll be back soon after 7.30 with news of the toss and the teams. If you’re on Blue Sky, as the Guardian is now, do send me a skeet! @tim.delisle.bluesky.social
