England took an unassailable lead in the five-T20I series but hosts West Indies managed to provide some entertainment to the homecrowd with a record-breaking run chase in fourth T20I on November 17 at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia. West Indies pulled off the highest run chase in T20Is at the venue and against England. They chased down the target of 219 with five wickets in hand and one over to spare.
Salt's assault continues
Earlier West Indies captain Rovman Powell won the toss and opted to bowl first. Phil Salt and Will Jacks got England off to a blazing start. In the iffth over, Alzarri Joseph broke the partnership with Jacks' wicket. He scored 25 runs from 12 balls. Salt continued to take on Caribbean bowlers. He hit Gudakesh Motie for two consecutive sixes. In the eighth over, he reached his half-century from 32 balls. In the ninth over, Jos Buttler hit a six to take England's score past 100. Roston Chase was introduced into the attack and he got the prized wicket of Salt. The opener scored 55 runs from 35 balls including five fours and four sixes.
Bethell goes berserk
In the 13th over, Buttler fell to Motie. The skipper hit two fours and three sixes in his 23-ball 38. Young Jacob bethell did not let the run rate drop despite Liam Livingstone falling for a single-digit score. In the 17th over, he hit Chase for three consecutive sixes. He reached his half-century from just 22 balls.Sam Curran hit a few sixes as well to help England post 218/5. He was run out for a 13-ball 24 off the last ball of the innings. On the other end, Bethell remained not out for 62 off 32 balls. His knock featured four fours and five sixes.
Fiery opening partnership
The run chase got off to a slow start with five runs from first two overs. Shai Hope punished debutant John Turner and smacked him for two sixes and three fours in the third over. In the next over, Saqib Mahmood conceded three consecutive fours. After the powerplay overs, West Indies had 69 runs on the board. In the seventh over, Hope reached his half-century from 23 balls. Livingstone was taken to the cleaners by Lewis as he hit him for three sixes and a four in the 30-run over. Curran could not bring the scoring rate down either. Lewis hit him for two sixes and as many fours. He reached his half-century from 26 balls.
Hat-trick of wickets but West Indies march on
The partnership was broken by Rehan Ahmed with the wicket of Lewis. He was deceived by the googly. The southpaw scored 68 runs from 31 balls including four fours and seven sixes. On the next ball, Hope was run out for a 24-ball 54. Nicholas Pooran could not do much damage either and got bowled as England completed team hat-trick. Powell did not take much time to settle and scored boundaries. In his final over, leg-spinner Rehan struck again. He got the wicket of Shimron Hetmyer. Sherfane Rutherford came to bat and opened his account with a six. Turner came back into the attack and dismissed Powell lbw. The captain scored 38 runs from 23 balls. However, it was a consolation wicket. In the 19th over, Rutherford hit two consecutive sixes to finish off the run chase.
The fifth and final T20I of the series will be played at the same venue on November 17.
