West Indies v England - Fifth and deciding T20I as it happened as hosts win low-scoring thriller to seal series

Updated 21/12/2023 at 23:29 GMT

Re-live TNT Sports' live text coverage of the fifth and final T20I between West Indies and England in Tarouba. Jos Buttler's men fought their way back to parity in the series thanks largely to some ferocious hitting from opener Phil Salt, who has back-to-back hundreds to his name. But it was West Indies who came out on top in a low-scorer thriller that decided the series.

'Amazing' - Salt clean bowled after hitting huge six in previous ball

West Indies win the match and series

What a contrast that was to the previous game in Trinidad. A record-breaking run-fest has been followed by a low-scoring thriller at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, with West Indies holding their nerve to win the series against England 3-2 and complete an ODI and T20 double over the tourists.

England’s 132 all out was unlikely to be enough despite a tricky batting surface making runs hard to come by, yet England’s bowling attack ensured the encounter went right to the last over.

West Indies v England

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The excellent of Reece Topley and Chris Woakes with the new ball gave England’s spinners something to work with, and Adil Rashid was the pick of the bowlers again with his outstanding 2-21 from four overs.

But West Indies had enough to spare to get over the line with four wickets and four balls to spare, as Shai Hope played the sort of anchor innings that he’s in the team for, finishing unbeaten on a run-a-ball 43* and hitting the winning runs for six off Woakes.

The game was effectively won in the first half, when West Indies spin duo of Akeal Hosein (2-20) and Gudakesh Motie (3-24) helped run through England.

And both teams will finish the series with plenty to ponder, especially with a T20 World Cup back in the Caribbean being just six months away.

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West Indies win by four wickets

Woakes takes the ball for the final over, with nine needed.

The first ball squirts through the in-field and West Indies run three, with Rehan doing superbly to stop the ball just short of the rope and save a run.

But Hope finishes the match in emphatic style, opening up his stance and carving away the classiest of sixes to win the game with four balls remaining.

West Indies 124-6 (Hope 37, Holder 1) Target: 133 Overs: 19

Runs Required: 9 Deliveries Remaining: 6

Curran’s death bowling was the strength in his game as he starred in the T20 World Cup win a year ago, and gives a timely reminder of his quality.

The left-armer sends down a rank full toss that he gets away with near the start of the over. But it’s wickets rather than dot balls that are key here for England, and Curran gets Russell with another full toss, missing his yorker by miles but not being punished as Russell picks out Livingstone with a skier to go for 3 from 8.

Curran finishes off almost completing a run out to remove Holder off the last ball of the over, failing to turn Rashid’s throw onto the stumps with Holder well short of his ground.

Fair play to Curran, he sent down four excellent deliveries in that over and got the wicket that England desperately needed.

West Indies 122-5 (Hope 36, Russell 3) Target: 133 Overs: 18

Runs Required: 11 Deliveries Remaining: 12

Rehan has been dangerous but expensive in this series and bowls his final over of the tour. Hope finds the gap with a late cut to the rope off the fifth ball of the over and England’s heads drop.

Rehan finishes with figures of 0-36. Two big hits would do it for West Indies from here.

West Indies 114-5 (Hope 30, Russell 1) Target: 133 Overs: 17

Runs Required: 19 Deliveries Remaining: 18

Hope for England as Powell slices a catch straight to Rashid at short third off Topley, going for 8 from 6.

It’s an excellent over from Topley, going for just the two runs as the low-scoring nerve-jangler heads into the death overs.

West Indies 112-4 (Hope 29, Powell 8) Target: 133 Overs: 16

Runs Required: 21 Deliveries Remaining: 24

That’s the over, West Indies are in complete control now.

Hope cuts extremely fine off Rehan to pick up a boundary off the first ball of the over, and a huge six from Powell over log on gives West Indies the run rate boost they were looking for.

England won’t defend this from here on runs alone. It’s all about wickets.

West Indies 99-4 (Hope 23, Powell 1) Target: 133 Overs: 15

Runs Required: 34 Deliveries Remaining: 30

England gamble by giving Rashid his final over as they hunt for wickets and it pays off, as Rutherford carves a catch straight to Curran at extra cover. It’s a decent catch and a very timely wicket for England, with Rutherford departing for 30 from 24.

Powell is the new man in and West Indies know that this over is key, so play it out with no further damage.

Rashid finishes with figures of 2-21 from his four overs.

West Indies 94-3 (Hope 19, Rutherford 30) Target: 133 Overs: 14

Runs Required: 39 Deliveries Remaining: 36

Curran comes into the attack and you sense this may have been the over that West Indies were waiting for.

So it proves, as Curran drops short and his pulled away for six off the third ball of the over. He comes back well with some good variations, but 11 off the over is damaging at this stage.

England need wickets, and quickly.

West Indies 83-3 (Hope 17, Rutherford 21) Target: 133 Overs: 13

Runs Required: 50 Deliveries Remaining: 42

Rehan returns and gets through a nice over, going for just three. But the required rate is still very manageable indeed for West Indies.

West Indies 80-3 (Hope 15, Rutherford 20) Target: 133 Overs: 12

Runs Required: 53 Deliveries Remaining: 48

Rashid overpitches and Rutherford’s eyes light up, sending the ball soaring back over the bowler’s head with a huge swing for six.

The spinner beats the edge with a beauty next up, but West Indies will be increasingly confident given the number of wickets they still have in hand.

West Indies 71-3 (Hope 14, Rutherford 12) Target: 133 Overs: 11

Runs Required: 62 Deliveries Remaining: 54

Moeen continues and another tidy over is damaged at the last as Rutherford opens up his stance and scythes the ball away for four.

Nine runs come off the over in all.

West Indies 62-3 (Hope 12, Rutherford 5) Target: 133 Overs: 10

It’s another tidy over from Rashid as West Indies try and see out this spin assault, safe in the knowledge that they’ve got plenty of power to come at the back end.

Rashid things he’s got Rutherford and England review an lbw shout, but the DRS says the ball’s spinning too much and missing leg.

That’s drinks, with the game firmly in the balance.

West Indies 58-3 (Hope 11, Rutherford 2) Target: 133 Overs: 9

Moeen gets a bowl as England rotate their spin options, and he whips through a rapid first over, conceding just the four runs, all in singles.

West Indies 54-3 (Hope 9, Rutherford 0) Target: 133 Overs: 8

The world’s top-ranked bowler in the format comes into the action for England and makes the big breakthrough. It’s not Rashid’s best delivery, but he’ll take it as Charles flicks a wide full toss straight into the hands of Buttler.

This game isn’t over yet, but England need the wickets to keep on coming.

West Indies 51-2 (Charles 26, Hope 7) Target: 133 Overs: 7

Rehan Ahmed comes into the attack and his first over ends in brutal fashion as Charles swings through the line and bludgeons a big old six straight back down the ground.

That means 12 runs come from the over – exactly what West Indies needed at this stage.

West Indies 39-2 (Charles 16, Hope 5) Target: 133 Overs: 6

Woakes almost gets another. Charles miscues into the covers and it drops just short of Moeen, who does well to adjust and save the runs.

Just two runs come of the over as Woakes and Topley bowl straight through the powerplay.

West Indies 37-2 (Charles 15, Hope 4) Target: 133 Overs: 5

Hope is perfect for this kind of situation where West Indies need somebody solid to anchor the chase.

Topley’s latest over goes for just three runs as the hosts bide their time.

West Indies 34-2 (Charles 15, Hope 1) Target: 133 Overs: 4

The contrast to the last game here is stark, with the ball continuing to dominate in this game.

Woakes ensures that Pooran’s reprieve doesn’t hurt England, moving one back in from a length that the batter edges onto his own stumps. Pooran goes for 10 from 6 and England aren’t out of this game yet.

Just four runs come from the over with Hope out in the middle alongside Charles.

West Indies 30-1 (Charles 13, Pooran 9) Target: 133 Overs: 3

There’s the first. Topley’s height and bounce has King in trouble as he mistimes a heave into the Trinidad sky, with Buttler taking the catch. King goes for 3 from 5 and Pooran is the new batter in.

Pooran gets the home crowd off their seats with a stunning six over backward square leg and survives a scare as England appeal for a catch behind next ball. Nothing is given and it looked like Pooran may have hit the ground.. There is a spike on the replay when Pooran hit the ground, but it seems like he maybe also feathered an edge. England should have reviewed - will they live to regret that?

West Indies 20-0 (King 3, Charles 13) Target: 133 Overs: 2

England are going for wickets and Woakes takes the new ball from the other end.

He is absolutely hammered for six by Charles second up, but almost gets his man later in the over as a miscued shot is just out of reach of a diving Topley at backward point. To add insult to injury the ball runs away for four.

West Indies 7-0 (King 1, Charles 2) Target: 133 Overs: 1

England need wickets and so opt to go with swing early on. Topley takes the new ball and does find some movement.

Four leg-byes ruin an otherwise impressive opening over.

Watch the wickets that turned the tide

England were looking solid again in the powerplay, but the wicket of Jos Buttler gave West Indies some momentum.

West Indies take early Buttler wicket in T20 decider against England

And it was the departure of Salt that really left England in trouble.

'Amazing' - Salt clean bowled after hitting huge six in previous ball

West Indies in complete control

So the decider is West Indies’ to lose after a stunning bowling display.

Momentum swung in the home team’s favour when four quick wickets undid a decent start from England’s openers Buttler and Salt.

Livingstone and Moeen were tasked with rebuilding and kicking out at the back end, and while both did the first part of the task well, neither were able to accelerate after the consolidation.

And England’s tail failed to delivery any power-hitting of note, leaving West Indies with a target of just 133 in Trinidad.

England 132 all out

Rashid is run out as England look to scramble back for a second as Powell and Holder combine to send the England spinner back for 1 from 1.

And the innings comes to an abrupt end next ball as Curran’s scratchy knock comes to an end as he toes a catch to Rutherford off Holder, finishing with 12 from 15.

England are 132 all out with three deliveries of the innings left unused.

'West Indies will be delighted' - Curran dismissed as England all out for 132

England 129-8 (Curran 9, Rashid 1) Overs: 19

Russell starts off the over with a gem of a yorker that spears beneath Woakes’ bat and into the stumps. Woakes goes for 2 from 6 and England are in danger of fizzling out.

And it’s two in two for the big all-rounder as he holds on to take a return catch as Rehan Ahmed larrups a full-toss straight back at the bowler for a first baller.

Russell stretches out a long arm to try and snatch another chance to claim the hat-trick as Rashid chips back towards him, but it’s out of his reach.

Curran almost goes next ball as an agricultural swipe is edged but dropped in the deep by Hosein, and he nearly plays on from the next as an inside-edge thuds into his legs.

A terrific yorker squirts away for a single to bring an eventful over to an end.

Russell finishes with 2-25 from his four overs – very impressive figures.

England 125-6 (Curran 6, Woakes 2) Overs: 18

This is so good from West Indies as Thomas finishes with an over that goes for just four singles.

England can’t find their timing at all tonight, and it remains to be seen whether that’s down to their poor execution or if the pitch is tough to score on.

England 121-6 (Curran 4, Woakes 0) Overs: 17

Livingstone goes and it’s a bit of a nothingy shot, plopped back to Motie for a caught and bowled.

Livingstone goes for 28 from 29 balls, and the expression on his face as he departs suggests that he’s not happy at all with that sort of return.

Woakes is the new batter in and Motie finishes the over with three consecutive dots.

That’s Motie done and he finishes with outstanding figures of 3-24 from four overs.

England 120-5 (Livingstone 28, Curran 3) Overs: 16

Livingstone launches a huge six into the leg side off Holder, but it’s another relatively secure over for the home side as just nine come off it.

England 111-5 (Livingstone 21, Curran 1) Overs: 15

Moeen drives down the ground but he doesn’t quite have enough on it. Russell claims on the rope and tosses it up for the relay catch to Powell, which isn’t the cleanest and the umpires check for grounding.

The catch is good though and Moeen departs for 23 from 21 balls – a knock that has helped England rebuild but that didn’t really spark into action.

Curran is next in, but Hosein concedes just one run from the second half of the over.

That’s Hosein done with the ball, and he returns brilliant figures of 2-20 from his four overs.

England 109-4 (Livingstone 20, Moeen 23) Overs: 14

A thick edge flies away to the boundary as fortune favours Moeen against Russell, and he gets a bit lucky later in the over too as a miscue flies high but drops safe.

England needed these two to stick around and take the innings deep and that’s exactly what they’ve done. It’s going to be a very different sort of game tonight though, with a far more chaseable target on the cards.

England 102-4 (Livingstone 18, Moeen 18) Overs: 13

Oof, that’s big from Moeen. He’s not had much time in the middle this series and it has shown in a scratchy start, but he lines up Motie and sends a huge six soaring over the leg-side boundary.

12 runs come from the over as England begin to up the ante.

England 90-4 (Livingstone 16, Moeen 8) Overs: 12

The consolidation has gone on long enough and Livingstone lets fly, sending a length ball soaring into the leg side for a huge six, trademark Livingstone. There’s a pretty painful attempt at a crowd catch on the bank that gives the fans something to laugh about.

Moeen looks to go similar off the last ball of the over but miscues it and is relieved to see the ball drop safe.

England 80-4 (Livingstone 8, Moeen 6) Overs: 11

Hosein gets through another quick over as this England pair know that they need to regroup and take the innings deep.

Just three singles come from it.

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England 77-4 (Livingstone 6, Moeen 5) Overs: 10

West Indies will be delighted as the innings reaches its midway point with England four down.

Holder’s over goes for just four runs as he mixed things up with a couple of bumpers and a disguised slower ball.

England 73-4 (Livingstone 5, Moeen 2) Overs: 9

Superb from Motie and England are in trouble.

Brook goes for a sweep but it bounces more than he was anticipating and he gloves it through to Pooran.

Brook departs for 7 from 6 balls and three runs come from the rest of the over as Moeen and Livingstone regroup.

England 70-3 (Livingstone 4, Brook 7) Overs: 8

England consolidate as Russell gets through another over that concedes just a single boundary.

A low full toss is given the treatment by Brook, who pings it to the long-off rope.

England 61-3 (Livingstone 1, Brook 1) Overs: 7

Salt is in outrageous form right now. Faced with more spin as Motie sends down his first over, the England opener hits an absolute monster of a six over long-off.

But Motie fires back the very next ball, sending down an absolute peach that turns significantly to leave Salt playing all down the wrong line as the ball knocks back middle stump. The West Indies are on song and Salt is back in the hutch for 38 from 22.

Brook comes out at number five with England in need of a rebuild.

England 50-2 (Salt 31, Livingstone 1) Overs: 6

Thomas completes the powerplay and 50 runs have come from it – decent, but nothing like the sort of early explosive scoring we saw last time out.

Salt starts the over with back-to-back boundaries, with the second being a peach of a straight drive.

England 39-2 (Salt 21, Livingstone 0) Overs: 5

West Indies are into the middle order of England early.

The new batter Jacks hits the first six of the innings, slamming a drive back down the ground that just clears Russell on the rope.

But Hosein gets his man next ball, skidding one through the England number three to rattle the stumps and send Jacks back for 7 from 5.

Livingstone is the new batter in at four, coming in far earlier in the match than would be in the England blueprint.

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England 32-1 (Salt 20, Jacks 1) Overs: 4

Holder makes the breakthrough – a rare powerplay wicket in this series. He lures the England captain into a mistimed shot that is caught by Thomas at fine leg, and Buttler departs for a run-a-ball 11.

Salt ensures that the runs keep coming later in the over, playing a clever shot behind backward point for four.

England 24-0 (Salt 13, Buttler 11) Overs: 3

Hosein comes into the attack and this is nice from West Indies, keeping things tighter.

Salt does ensure the boundaries keep flowing with a hammered four, and Rutherford hurts himself slightly trying to stop it.

Eight runs come from the over and we’re yet to see a six.

England 16-0 (Salt 7, Buttler 9) Overs: 2

Thomas takes the second over as he comes into the team and he starts with a loosener that Salt pulverizes to the rope with a lovely drive.

Buttler hooks a second boundary of the over to deep square as England begin to tick.

England 5-0 (Salt 1, Buttler 4) Overs: 1

Russell opens the bowling for West Indies with Salt and Buttler out in the middle looking for a repeat of two days ago.

There’s no width for the openers to work with for much of the over, with the exception of a misdirected bouncer that Buttler puts away for four.

That’s a decent start for West Indies.

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Big competition for World Cup places awaits

This tour for England has been a real chance for players to lay down a marker for a spot in the XI for next year’s World Cup. But there are some big names still to come back into the equation.

Jonny Bairstow could well rival Will Jacks for that number three spot, while coach Matthew Mott revealed yesterday that England have set aside spots in their ideal XI for both Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer should the pair be fit enough to feature in the tournament.

Archer has yet to feature in a T20 World Cup for England after missing the 2021 and 2022 editions through injury, but was one of the world’s elite bowlers in the format prior to his latest set of injury issues and would be a certain pick should he be fit and firing next summer.

And Mott says that Stokes would also be a certain pick in the top six should he be available. His anchoring innings in last year’s T20 World Cup final steered England to glory of course, and Stokes’ all-round capabilities would be a real help in balancing the side, should he be able to bowl. Who he replaces in this current XI is less obvious, with England wanting plenty of batting power and as many spin options as they can get on turning surfaces. But it’ll be a good problem to have.

England coach confirms box-office Archer is part of England's plans

Rashid’s brilliance is recognised

Adil Rashid has been England’s stand-out performer with the ball by quite some distance in this series and will play a huge part if they are to challenge for the title at the T20 World Cup that will also be held in the Caribbean next summer.

And Rashid’s continued excellence saw him climb to the summit of the ICC T20I Bowling Rankings this week, becoming just the second English spinner to top that particular ranking after Graeme Swann.

Three other English players feature in the top ten ranking spots for the format, with Jos Buttler and the now discarded Dawid Malan sitting at eighth and ninth respectively in the batting rankings, and Moeen Ali staying at joint eighth in the all-rounder charts.

Brandon King (sixth in batting) and Akeal Hosein (sixth in bowling) are the two West Indians to make the top ten lists.

Adil Rashid claims top spot in T20I rankings

The two XIs

England 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Jos Buttler (capt), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley.

West Indies 1 Brandon King, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Shai Hope, 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Rovman Powell (capt), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Oshane Thomas, 11 Gudakesh Motie.

Team news

England have opted not to make any changes to the team for this one, which means Mills, Atkinson and Turner and Duckett will watch on.

West Indies have made changes though, with Charles and Thomas coming in for Mayers and Forde.

West Indies win the toss

West Indies have decided to bowl first, just as they did last time out. The thinking is sound, as this is a ground that looks like chasing most totals should be an option, just maybe not 260+. They’ll be hoping that the bowlers do better this time out.

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The stage is set

The Brian Lara Cricket Academy will host the final game of this series, and the crowd at this picturesque ground in Trinidad will expect runs, after an extraordinary 459 runs were scored at the same venue in Tuesday’s fourth T20I.

Watch highlights of the fourth T20I

In case you weren’t watching, check out the highlights from the fourth T20I, as England put on a batting masterclass to level the series at 2-2.

West Indies v England - Highlights of 4th T20I as England look to level series

What happened last time out

Phil Salt hit his second century of the series as England racked up their highest ever T20I score to level the series at this same ground on Tuesday evening.

It doesn’t get much more impressive than a total of 267 in 20 overs, and England have certainly hit their straps after a sluggish start to the tour that saw them lose the ODI series and go 2-0 down in this one.

Read the full report from Tuesday’s game here:

Phil Salt stars as England level T20 series after record batting display

Hello and welcome

It’s time for the decider in this fascinating five-match T20I series between West Indies and England.

I’m Tom Bennett and I’ll be bringing you over-by-over updates and the very best of the match action throughout the game in Trinidad.

And remember that TNT Sports subscribers can watch this match in full on discovery+.

Buttler says changing room 'really confident' ahead of decider

England's win in Tarouba in the fourth T20I against the West Indies saw them claw back the series to 2-2 ahead of Thursday's decider at the same venue.

“A fantastic win,” Buttler said afterwards. “It was like being at the Hong Kong Sixes tournament wasn't it?

“We showed so much character. Phil Salt again, to back it up with two hundreds in a row is a phenomenal effort.

'A batter at the peak of his powers' - Salt hits three sixes in a row against West Indies

“I am really proud of the group to go 2-0 down and show the reaction we have. To show the bravery, courage and ultimately skill level as well to be able to execute it.

“I am delighted for the guys and it's a really confident changing room.”

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