West Indies beat England by 20 runs to win third T20 – as it happened

Kieron Pollard is wearing shorts and a big smile. “It was a complete performance,” he says. “The versatility in our team sometimes takes the ego out of it, so kudos to the players.” I suspect he’s referring to Pooran, who got off to a fast start but then pulled over into the slow lane to let Powell put his foot down, with spectacular results.

And that is that. West Indies lead 2-1 with two to play. The underdogs are now the favourites, and the world’s No 1 team (allegedly) are in a hole. I’ll be back on Saturday to see if West Indies can wrap it up with a game to spare. Thanks for your company, your correspondence and your Swedish accents. It’s been a blast.

Moeen is dignified in defeat. He calls the Pooran-Powell partnership “fantastic”, and he is blunt about the impact of England’s many changes. “We were done a little bit by Morgs’ injury and [having] the three debutants.” Then he adds: “But they played really well.” And he has some high praise for Salt and Banton.

The player of the match is ... Rovman Powell. After dealing with everything England’s lefties hurled at him, he faces a quiz from Mark Butcher. “You’re the third man to make a T20 hundred for West Indies. Do you know who the other two are?”

“I do!” Powell says. “The Universe Boss himself, Chris Gayle, and Evin Lewis.” Never mind the Universe Boss, put this man on University Challenge.

And the cricket goes on. While all those sixes were raining down on Bridgetown (final score: West Indies 16, England 15), an Ashes Test was getting underway in Canberra. And England have started brightly – click here to follow our OBO with Geoff Lemon.

“Sobering,” says the subject field of an email from Colum Fordham. “Was really struck by seeing Sir Garfield Sobers the other day, in a pale blue shirt, watching his side succumb by one run, all guns blazing. I hope the living legend appreciated Philip Salt’s fine knock with plenty of big six-hitting, a very positive note for England, albeit in an ultimately futile effort. Banton’s innings bodes well too.”

For England, the consolation prize is that two young players batted extremely well. Tom Banton made a cultured 73 off 39 balls at the top of the order, and Phil Salt a phenomenal 57 off 24 at the death. England kept the crowd interested and played their part in the highest-scoring T20 international ever staged in the Caribbean. But the die was cast by the scintillating partnership between Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell. In a T20, you’re not supposed to put on 122.

20th over: England 204-9 (Mills 1, Topley 2) Shepherd holds his nerve, nails his yorkers, and sees West Indies to a famous victory. The match belongs to Rovman Powell. You know when you’ve been Rovmanned.

And another six! England just need four more and they’re there... but Salt is bowled! Round his legs. Well bowled.

He’s not giving up! Salt reaches his fifty in style, with a straight six. What a debut this is.

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19th over: England 187-8 (Salt 45, Mills 0) So England need 38 off the last over. And they also need to be facing themselves.

Rashid goes for a run, Salt doesn’t, and Cottrell has so much time to break the wicket that he coolly flicks the bail up and catches it. Harsh.

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Salt, a caption reveals, has faced 20 balls and only one of them has been a dot. But he’s on his own. Cottrell hurries one through Garton, unsettling him, and then he bowls him. No blame at all, for either Garton or Brook.

18th over: England 184-6 (Salt 44, Garton 1) Yet another debutant comes in, but Salt is at the wheel. He whips Holder for four, forcing him to go round the wicket, then hooks him for four more. Garton manages a drive for a single off his first ball in international cricket. England need 41 off 12 balls.

It’s time to hit out or get out, and Brook perishes to a top-edged slog off a slower ball.

17th over: England 174-5 (Salt 35, Brook 10) Salt thinks he’s got another six, off the returning Cottrell, but the TV umpire rules that it’s a four, prompting boos from the England fans. Brook plays and misses, twice, before going for his first big hit – not middled, just a single. And then Salt nails it! Six more, cracked over midwicket, just eluding Fabian Allen. His 35 has come off just 15 balls. A star is born.

16th over: England 162-5 (Salt 24, Brook 9) Brook is hitting singles, handing the strike back to Salt, which would be the right thing to do if they needed ten an over. As it’s 15, they’ve both got to go hell for leather. But Salt, who did some of his growing up in Barbados, is very much at home. He lifts Shepherd back over his head for six. That’s the 12th six from England tonight, to go with 16 from West Indies.

15th over: England 151-5 (Salt 15, Brook 7) Time for Salt to go big. And he does! Facing Hosein, he slog-sweeps with quick hands and hits his first six in this format. The cameras find Eoin Morgan on the England balcony, radiating calm, half-sphinx, half-Brearley. England need 74 at just under 15 an over. “Not impossible,” says Ian Bishop. Is he sure?

14th over: England 140-5 (Salt 6, Brook 5) So Kieron Pollard finishes with 2-31 off his four overs, after bowling them straight through. Maybe captains should try that more often. Now Salt gets his chance, and takes it – mowing for two to open his T20i account, then hitting a straight drive so hard that Jason Holder, trying to catch it, may have a broken hand. That’s another two. And then Salt is dropped by Hosein at cover, a tough chance. At this stage, West Indies had 140 too – for two. It’s a measure of the carnage at the death that England need another 85 off six overs.

“We are watching the game here in Sweden,” says Julian Menz, “with some Indian friends and a Swede (no tuber vegetable jokes please). We are doing our best to spread the cricket gospel, yet the Swedish gentleman’s most telling comment was that if you put a couple of dots above the ‘o’ in Rovman, it would mean ‘arseman’ in Swedish. I fear we have a way to go yet.”

13th over: England 132-5 (Salt 0, Brook 3) Two batters on 0, both debutants: I’m not sure England have got the batting order right. But Harry Brook shows some gumption, dabbing for two to get off the mark in international cricket, then tipping and running a single to keep the strike. England need 93 off seven overs at a rate of 13 or so.

Got him! A slower ball lures Banton into a rare false shot. That’s the end of a fine defiant knock, and the game is surely up.

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12th over: England 123-4 (Banton 67, Salt 0) England could do with an old salt here, but they’ve got a new one: Phil Salt, who has never come in below No 5 before in a T20. Whether he can handle it, we don’t yet know, as he hasn’t faced a ball. Banton, seeing the need to take charge, hist Shepherd for six! And six more. That’s 17 off the over, and it’s still mission implausible.

Livingstone goes inside-out and gets a steepling top-edge, which is well held by Akeal Hosein on the edge of the circle. At least Livingstone can get some medical attention.

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11th over: England 106-3 (Banton 52, Livingstone 11) Pollard gives himself a third successive over and almost defeats Livingstone, mistiming a hook. England need a huge over, and poor Livingstone doesn’t look well enough to deliver it, for all his gifts.

10th over: England 99-3 (Banton 50, Livingstone 7) He’s well enough to stay out there, but Livingstone looks decidedly peaky. He’s been suffering from oesophagitis. Rovman Powell is bowling, as if he hadn’t already grabbed the man-of-the-match award. Banton takes a single to reach a fine fifty off 29 balls. And Livingstone gathers himself to wallop a six over midwicket! At the halfway stage, England need 126. It’s perfectly possible on paper.

There’s a delay. It looks as if Livingstone doesn’t feel well.

Time for an email that halfway to an essay. “I wish I was called Rovman,” says Robert Wilson. “I think I’ve always felt like a Rovman.

“Rashid, Rashid, my lost diamond Adil across the sea. More and more it’s a heartbreak that he doesn’t pan out in Tests. He has everything necessary. I wondered for a while if he wasn’t wily or clever enough, but if noted blockhead Shane Warne can be epochal at it, it’s not a question of intellect. Maybe it’s just the nowness of it all. After all, his main adversary tonight, Powell, has only played a dozen first class games in his career.

“You guys need to stop whingeing about tax returns. There’s worse. I just got back from a meeting of anti-vax protestors and I am absolutely covered in stupid. You wanna hear about the 20 million secret Jews in Wuhan? There are 20 million of them. And they’re secret.”

9th over: England 90-3 (Banton 48, Livingstone 0) Banton is still going smoothly, cutting for four, brushing for two into the space on the leg side. This is already the highest score by an Englishman in the series – and it looks puny next to Rovman Powell’s hundred.

Noooo!!! Mo!!!! He chases a wide slower ball and can only chip it to backward point. Game off, unless Liam Livingstone can go ballistic.

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8th over: England 79-2 (Banton 38, Moeen 0) Banton isn’t bothered about the rate. He goes deep in the crease and swishes Hosein over midwicket for six with good fast hands. Vince sees that and raises him that upper cut for six more. “They might run out of sanitiser,” says Steve Harmison. But Vince, as so often, has only a cameo for us, and now Moeen has a hell of a job on his hands. What does a captain’s innings look like here?

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Six and out! Vince plays a stroke of genius, cutting over extra-cover, but then slaps a long hop in the same direction and hands Pollard a dolly.

7th over: England 65-1 (Banton 31, Vince 9) Pollard brings himself on for some military medium, which does the trick: just four singles. Banton goes for a reverse flick and misses. The required rate creeps above 12.

6th over: England 61-1 (Banton 29, Vince 7) Kieron Pollard tries some spin in the PowerPlay, in the form of Akeal Hosein’s slow left-arm. Banton’s eyes light up: the first ball goes for a straight four that almost takes Hosein’s head off, the second for six from an easy swing. The England supporters help themselves to a chorus of Sweet Caroline. Pollard holds a conference in mid-over, and whatever is said has some effect: dot, dot, dot... one. So the PowerPlay ends with England going great guns, and still only scraping a 16pc chance of a win on CricViz. As much as that?

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5th over: England 50-1 (Banton 18, Vince 7) Holder, changing ends, replaces Cottrell. Banton spots a slower ball and plays a hockey shot for four, whipped past backward square. He’s got something. And England have fifty already, but the required run-rate has begun its ascent – it’s already 11.66. Two a ball!

4th over: England 41-1 (Banton 9, Vince 7) Hang on, says James Vince, what about me? He’s had a quiet series but he times his first ball beautifully through the covers – the cut that got the cream.

At this stage, West Indies were 34-1, but it’s hard to see England staying ahead for long.

Nooo!!! Roy groans as he realises the bat has spun in his hand, giving Holder a simple catch at long-on. Well bowled Romario Shepherd: he’s got rid of England’s best hope.

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3rd over: England 27-0 (Roy 13, Banton 8) Cottrell is bowling off cutters, tucking Roy up – but still concedes a six as Roy gets hold of the first ball of this over.

The good news for England fans is that they have chased a target like this before – 230 against South Africa at Centurion in 2016. The bad news is that the highest successful chase on this ground, by anyone, is 155.

2nd over: England 19-0 (Roy 6, Banton 8) England need a bit of help and they get it as Jason Holder starts with a wide that goes for five. He recovers to beat Roy with a superb slow bouncer, a leg-cutter at 105kmph, and then beats him again for good measure. But then Tom Banton comes to the party, picking a slower ball and dumping it over long-on for England’s first six of other night. Game on?

“This is going about as well as my self-assessment tax return,” said Guy Hornsby on Twitter, half an hour ago. “In that it’s much more painful than I thought it’d be, and I could spend much of the evening with my brain melted by big numbers.” Join the club!

1st over: England 5-0 (Roy 4, Banton 1) It’s Sheldon Cottrell to open the bowling – yet another left-armer. And Roy is missed in the deep! By Rovman Powell! Roy pulled, hard, and Powell was a touch slow out of the blocks at deep square, presumably because he was resting on his laurels.

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20th over: West Indies 224-5 (Shepherd 11, Pollard 9) Kieron Pollard finally gives himself a go and races to nine off four balls. And that is that. What a performance from the West Indians. Nicholas Pooran set the tone: Rovman Powell called the tune. It’s as if the batters were inspired by the way the bowlers batted the other night. The total is West Indies’ third highest in 155 T20 internationals, and their very highest against England.

Of the bowlers, Topley and Rashid were cool under fire, but Mills, Moeen, Livingstone and Garton all went for 13-14 an over. There are probably only two ways England can make a game of it: if Jason Roy or Liam Livingstone goes bananas. See you shortly!

A slower ball from Tymal Mills baffles Fabian Allen, who gives a simple catch off the top edge. The collapse is on.

19th over: West Indies 210-4 (Shepherd 10) Reece Topley had returned bearing dots – two of them, as he rapped Powell on the hand. But then Powell found a two and a single to reach his ton. He just had to celebrate with a six, but fancied another and lofted a mis-hit to long-off, where Liam Livingstone took a phenomenal diving catch. It’s ALL happening.

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Only two West Indians have ever made a T20 century... make that three! A clip to leg off Topley, and Powell goes to 101 off 51 balls with four fours and NINE sixes. He’s been immense. Lucky they didn’t pick him for the first two games.

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18th over: West Indies 199-3 (R Powell 97, Shepherd 10) Will Powell now play second fiddle? He will not. Facing Garton, he upper-cuts for four, belts a pull for six and drives a full toss inside-out for six more! West Indies are having a party, and England are just there to make the cocktails.

17th over: West Indies 180-3 (R Powell 78, Shepherd 10) Kieron Pollard decides to promote Romario Shepherd, the last-gasp master blaster from the other night. And he takes up where he left off, tucking his first ball for two and lofting his second for six. Eleven off the over, so Rash finishes with figures of 4-0-25-1. He’s so classy.