Rutherford, Motie power West Indies to 30-run win over England

Sherfane Rutherford (76 not out) and Gudakesh Motie (3/32) thwarted England's charge twice to help West Indies win their key Group C match of the T20 World Cup by 30 runs here on Wednesday. Rutherford displayed the Caribbean flair with his stroke-play to make a 42-ball 76 not out with five sixes and two fours, enthralling a 21,300-strong Wankhede Stadium crowd, while the West Indies spinners led by Motie utilised the grip off the surface perfectly to deny England in the chase.

Set a target of 197, England, who had none of their batters converting starts, rolled over for 166 in 19 overs, with Sam Curran topping the scorecard with 43 not out. Phil Salt (30 off 14 balls; 4 fours, 2 sixes) and England were off the blocks quickly when the right-handed tore into Jason Holder, collecting 24 runs off the second over to put the side on top. Anything short was hammered into the stands while Salt mostly met the ball with the middle of the bat.

Holder's medium pace, like Curran's earlier in the first half, failed to make any impression on the batters and it was against the run of play when England lost their first wicket. Going for one shot too many, Salt was cramped for room when he danced down, playing it straight to Rutherford at cover off Romario Shepherd. Even as the powerplay belonged to England who had raced to 67/1, there was another soft dismissal in the form of Jos Buttler (21).

Roston Chase was forced to come around the wicket after being hit for a six, but Buttler smacked this one straight to Powell at long-on. Motie then rocked England twice in quick succession with some brilliant display of spin bowling. Using the grip off the surface, he first had Tom Banton (2) caught at cover beating him with turn, and then skidded one through an in-form Jacob Bethell's (33) defence with his chinaman delivery, reducing England to 93/4 at the halfway mark.

England kept picking the odd boundaries but West Indies' spinners kept chipping away. Motie then dealt a body blow with a soft dismissal of skipper Harry Brook (17) who was beaten by the turn and the left-arm spinner took a sharp diving return catch, while Chase pinned Will Jacks (2) leg-before to leave England reeling at 135/6 after 15 overs. England couldn't avert losing another wicket to spin, as on the final ball of Akeal Hosein's (1/32) last over, Jamie Overton (5) walked back after Powell executed a perfect bunny-hop catch at long-on.

Earlier, Rutherford (76 not out) led the way with a blistering half-century as the West Indies recovered well from an ordinary start to post a formidable 196/6. Rutherford resurrected a faltering innings for the Caribbean side that had crawled to an ordinary 79 for four halfway through on what remained a true batting wicket. As many as 117 runs came in the final 10 overs as Rutherford put on 51 runs for the fifth wicket with Powell (14), and added another 61 runs off only 32 balls for the sixth with Holder (33 off 17 balls; 1x4s, 4x6s).

While Rutherford was the top-scorer, the Caribbean side was also well served by Test skipper Chase (34) at No. 4 when they were going through a lull, and towards the end, by Holder's hit three sixes in an over from Sam Curran. Holder used the long handle to good effect and took some pressure off Rutherford, who was given a lifeline by Adil Rashid (2/16) in the 18th over of the innings. To his credit, Rashid bounced back strongly after being hammered around the park by Nepal in the last game. He bowled four measly overs in stand-alone spells while generated sharp turn which kept the batters guessing, and accounted for Chase with a wrong'un as well as Powell.

The West Indies had made a poor start slipping to 8/2 even as Jofra Archer (1/48) struggled for control in his first over. Skipper Shai Hope smashed it straight to Banton at cover point off Archer and Curran (1/36) had Brandon King caught by the sweeper cover in the next. Chase tried to turn around the fortunes for his side when he smashed three consecutive fours off Jacks in the fifth over and Shimron Hetmyer hit a six. But West Indies' innings struggled for momentum at the beginning.

Jamie Overton (2/33) outsmarted the in-form Hetmyer (23) with a few fuller deliveries followed by one slow and short ball. Hetmyer looked hurried as the ball took the top edge and flew to the short fine-leg, where Curran completed an easy catch. Before he fell, the left-handed No. 3 had hit a couple of sixes and fours each, including one against Curran's talked-about 'Moon Ball'.