WI VS ENG 2ND ODI

Right then, that's all from the second ODI. A clinical effort with both bat and ball has helped England force a series decider. On the other hand, West Indies could not quite back up their performance in the first ODI. The caravan now shifts to Kensington Oval in Barbados for the third and final ODI that will be played on Saturday, the 9th of December. The first ball will be bowled at 11.00 pm IST (5.30 pm GMT). As always, you can join us early for the build-up. Until then, take care and goodbye!

England's captain, Jos Buttler says it was great to spend some time in the middle and stay not out, making sure he took the team over the line. He adds up saying how important Sam Curran is to the side and how crucial those three wickets at the start of the innings were to the team. He concludes by saying he is mighty pleased by the win and looks forward to the next game in Barbados.

West Indies' skipper Shai Hope says that they did not start well with the bat in the first 10 overs, they did have one good partnership but after that, they were not able to convert it to a huge total. He adds that they will look to regroup as a batting side and look to do better in the final game. He mentions that it was challenging for the spinners under light with the due coming in but they did their best. Finishes by acknowledging that the series is level now and they will look forward to the final decider game.

Sam Curran is the Player of the Match for his brilliance with the ball. He took 3 for 33 from his 7 overs. He says it has been a pleasing performance after his outing in the last game. He adds by saying that there was not a lot of swing on offer so he had to change the angles and use the strong winds to his advantage. He further concludes that the pitch was tricky and the way England executed their plans was overwhelming.

Time for the presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, it were the English bowlers who vindicated their skipper's decision to bowl first with a clinical effort. Inserted into bat, West Indies were rocked early as they lost four wickets inside the first Powerplay. Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford then got together and began a rescue act for the West Indies. The duo soaked up the pressure well and forged a solid recovery with a 128-run stand. However, once this partnership was broken, it all went downhill for West Indies as they lost their last five wickets for 50 runs to be bowled out for 202. Hope's 68 and Rutherford's 63 were the only positives in their batting effort for the hosts. Fresh off a forgettable outing with the ball in the series opener, Sam Curran redeemed himself by accounting for 3 of the 4 wickets in the Powerplay. Liam Livingstone broke the back of the West Indies batting unit with three wickets in the middle phase, while Rehan Ahmed and Gus Atkinson took each as well.

With not a big total to defend, the West Indies needed early breakthroughs with the new ball. Their hopes pinged on Alzarri Joseph and Romario Shepherd, but the duo were put under pressure by the English openers. Shepherd was the first to break through for the West Indies before Gudakesh Motie's twin strikes gave the West Indies an opening. The introduction of Motie helped West Indies put a squeeze on the runs which allowed them to mount the pressure. The move to continue with Sherfane Rutherford paid off for Shai Hope and the West Indies as the all-rounder removed the dangerous-looking Will Jacks. At that stage, the West Indies sensed an opening, but the gritty 90-run stand between Harry Brook and Jos Buttler just took the game away from them.

As they did in the series opener, Will Jacks and Phil Salt got England off to a flier once again. Jacks continued from where he left off in the last game, while Salt was also not too behind in setting the tempo. Even though Jacks brought up his second ODI fifty, the fall of wickets at the other end hampered his momentum. He got out on 73, which put England in a bit of a bother. Harry Brook then joined hands with Jos Buttler and calmed the nerves in the dressing room. The duo were happy to nurdle it around but, at the same time, showed no mercy to the loose deliveries. Buttler was the aggressor of the two batters, and his streak of low scores finally came to an end as he registered an unbeaten 58-run knock to take his side home. On his way to his fifty, Buttler also became the 5th English batter to get to 5000 ODI runs. Not to forget the contribution from Harry Brook, who showed good application and remained unbeaten on 43.

The series is well and truly alive! An emphatic victory for England as they chase it down with 103 balls to spare and 6 wickets in hand. After a tough defeat in the series opener, England have taken their game up a notch to draw level in the series. As far as West Indies are concerned, they were let down by their batters and even though the bowling unit put up a fight, it was just not enough on the day.

FOUR! That is the end of the game as England have registered a comfortable win in the second ODI. Tossed up ball on the leg stump and Harry Brook sweeps it hard towards the backward square leg region for four runs to finish the game. Its England who have leveled the series 1-1.

Tossed up on the off stump ljne. Harry Brook pushes the ball off the front foot to covers.

Just short on the off stump with pace. Harry Brook stands back and pushes the ball to mid off.

Pitched up on the off stump. Harry Brook stands on the crease and pushes the ball to mid off.

Full toss on the leg stump. Harry Brook pushes the ball straight to mid on.

Swing and a miss this time. Hits the good length again Oshane Thomas outside the off stump and the ball flys after pitching beating Jos Buttler as he tries to push the ball towards sweepers for a single.

FOUR! Jos Buttler gets the scores to level as he slams another short ball in front of square this time. Short ball on the body of Jos Buttler and he stands tall and pulls it along the ground between mid-wicket and mid on for another superb boundary.

SIX! That is a superb shot by the England skipper Jos Buttler to bring up his FIFTY. Pitched up on the off stump line and all Jos Buttler had to do was swing through the line of the ball with superb timing to take the ball over the long off boundary line for a huge six. England require 5 more runs now.