- Total of 248-3 matched Australia’s score against England 12 years ago
- There were career-best contributions from Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith
- Windies watched balls flying over their heads as England piled up runs
Harry Brook made it six of the best as his England side equalled the biggest Twenty20 international score in this country in a landslide win over West Indies in Southampton.
Career-best contributions from Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith set the platform for a total of 248 for three, matching the runs made by Australia against England on this ground 12 years ago.
Earlier this year, the Jos Buttler era ended with 10 defeats in 11 white-ball internationals, but Brook has flipped such form on its head since inheriting the captaincy baton, winning every one of his half a dozen matches to date.
There will be tougher challenges ahead. This was a West Indies team missing the injured Andre Russell and permanently without their premier batsman following Nicholas Pooran’s retirement from international cricket on the eve of this contest.
But there was no let-up in England’s intensity: they refused to give squad players a run-out by keeping the same XI and embarked on clearing the not insignificant boundaries at the Utilita Bowl. Between them, they struck 15 sixes.
In sharing 120 for the first wicket inside nine overs, Duckett and Smith provided a masterclass in hitting the ball to parts of the field where fielders were not.
England recorded a landslide win over West Indies to complete a clean sweep of the T20 series
Ben Duckett top-scored for the hosts with a sparkling 86 as they posted a huge 248-3
Duckett registered England’s fourth fastest 50 and kept going when a chance burst through Shimron Hetmyer’s hands at extra cover soon afterwards.
That was the second time in the innings that the left-hander had mangled a fielder’s fingers: Alzarri Joseph forced off the field to be strapped up after intercepting a half chance in his follow through.
Mostly, though, the Windies watched balls flying over their heads as England piled up their second best tally in this format, behind the 267 for three they made when these two teams met in Trinidad 18 months ago.
Phil Salt’s second century in as many matches sparked the pyrotechnics that night, but he may have been forgiven for regretting his decision to skip this series for paternity leave after his stand-in Smith belted 60 off just 26 deliveries here.
England’s innovation reached new levels: Buttler flipped his fourth ball 100 metres over fine leg and then wedged a one bounce four inside-out with one of the more extraordinary shots of an extraordinary innings.
Top of the lot, however, belonged to Jamie Smith, who followed bringing up a maiden 50 in T20s for England with successive sixes over long-on by slapping a third in the over from Romario Shepherd over extra cover off the front foot.
Generally, spin proved harder to hit, but Jacob Bethell challenged the theory with three successive sixes off Gudakesh Motie towards the death.
And England used pace off the ball as their main weapon with Adil Rashid coming back from rare punishment in Bristol at the weekend with two for 30.
