England captain Harry Brook praised the unity of his “group of mates” after sealing his second series win in just 11 days in charge.
Brook has won five on the bounce against the West Indies since taking over from Jos Buttler, sweeping the tourists 3-0 in the ODI leg and going 2-0 up with one to play in the T20s.
England did not have it easy in Sunday’s four-wicket win at Bristol, with the asking rate climbing past 11 an over at one stage as they chased down a stiff target of 197.
But they stuck together to get over the line, with five of their top six making handy contributions before Jacob Bethell and Tom Banton took the bull by the horns. The middle-order duo hammered 56 off just 21 deliveries between them to puncture the West Indian resistance and keep the good times rolling for Brook.
It was the kind of game England were losing in the difficult final days under Buttler, whose reign ended with eight straight defeats across both formats.
But there is a new lighter feeling around the group – including the newly liberated former skipper, who has top-scored with 96 and 47 in the last two games.
“It feels like we’re a group of mates. We’re just going out and having fun,” said Brook.
“It’s been nice for me. The results are awesome and we’re really enjoying it. We’re having a good time out there.
“At the end of games we go around the circle and Baz (head coach Brendon McCullum) asks if anybody has anything to say. In every game so far someone has stood up and said something. I think that’s a great way of showing how the team is at the minute and we feel a proper togetherness.”
The West Indies made England sweat at times, taking 82 off their last five overs including an unexpected tirade against Adil Rashid in the 19th.
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For so long the team’s most bankable bowler, the leg-spinner shipped five sixes and 31 runs in what goes down as the second most expensive over by an English bowler in T20s. Stuart Broad holds the unwanted record of 36, taken for six off every ball by Yuvraj Singh at the 2007 World Cup.
Brook, though, insists he and his team were never rattled.
“I’m always very chilled. We knew that there was going to be one, two, maybe three big overs,” he said.
“On a pitch that size, with 60-metre boundaries nearly all the way around, we accepted that before the game and we knew we could get big overs as well.
“The way Bants went about his business, getting 30 off 11 balls having never really batted in the middle order before was just awesome.”
The West Indies have one more chance to avoid a winless tour in Southampton on Tuesday but head coach Daren Sammy paid tribute to Akeal Hosein, who took the field just six hours after arriving from the Caribbean following visa delays.
“He said to me, ‘there’s no way I’m not playing’,” Sammy explained.
“Kudos to him, he turned up for us. An eight-hour flight straight into a game is not ideal but it shows his commitment.”
