England clinch T20 series

GROS ISLET, St Lucia (AP):

FAST BOWLER Saqib Mahmood again knocked the top off the West Indies’ innings to set up England’s three-wicket win in the third Twenty20 International yesterday, which clinched a series victory, with two matches remaining.

Set 146, England reached its target with seven wickets down and four balls to spare.

The chase was led by Sam Curran, who made 41 in partnerships of 38 with Will Jacks (32) and 39 with Liam Livingstone. Livingstone was dropped on 6, 8, and 21 but went on to reach a valuable 39. With each dropped catch, the match slipped from the home team’s grasp.

Jamie Overton (4) and Rehan Ahmed (5) were at the crease when the winning runs came in the final over.

Player-of-the-match Mahmood took 3-17, dismissing Evin Lewis (3) in the first over of the match and returning to dismiss Roston Chase (7) and Shimron Hetmyer (2) as the West Indies slumped to 39-5 at the end of the six-over power play.

“I just feel freer (in this series) to be honest,” Mahmood said. “I think when I’ve played in the past, I’ve always kept someone else’s place warm whereas coming into this it feels like my own, and I can really express myself and always look to take the brave option.”

Captain Rovman Powell made 54 as the West Indies recovered to 145-8 after the failure of the top order.

The West Indies lost three wickets in the power play in each of the first two matches of the series, which England won by eight wickets and seven wickets, respectively.

Mahmood took 4-24, including the power play wickets of Lewis, Brandon Kin, and Hetmyer in the first match and 2-20 in the second.

England received a major boost before the match when captain Jos Buttler won the toss, which was delayed for 45 minutes by a wet outfield.

The first two matches of the series and the three matches of the previous One-Day International series between the teams were all won by the team that won the toss. The West Indies paid heavily for indiscipline at the start of their innings – in spite of a deteriorating position their top batters continued to play recklessly.

Shai Hope was run out on the fourth ball of the innings by Jacob Bethell, who threw down his stumps as Hope first set off for a hopeless run then failed to regain his ground.

Lewis was out five balls later, slashing at a length ball from Mahmood that flew to Jofra Archer at third man. And Nicholas Pooran fell to the fifth ball of the third over, bowled by Archer as he threw up his head and swung across the line at a straight delivery.

The West Indies were 17-3 after three overs.

Powell and Romario Shepherd put on 73 for the sixth wicket, and Alzarri Joseph, returning after a suspension for his extraordinary protest in the final match of the previous ODI series, made an unbeaten 21. Joseph walked off the field in the first match after disputing his captain’s field settings.

The fourth and fifth matches of the series will be played at St Lucia on Saturday and Sunday.