Five matches and more than a fortnight into this T20 World Cup, at last an England performance to suggest their grip on the trophy might yet remain firm beyond its end.
After the washout of Scotland, the mauling by Australia and two scampered victories against poor opposition in Namibia and Oman, here was a statement display, an in-form West Indies trounced by eight wickets with 15 balls to spare, and on their own patch in St Lucia to boot.
Phil Salt, scorer of centuries in back-to-back matches on the Caribbean tour just before Christmas, made an unbeaten 87, including taking 30 runs off Romario Shepherd’s 16th over to flatten lingering West Indies hope.
But Jonny Bairstow, too, played a vital hand, his 48 not-out from 26 deliveries keeping England on top of their pursuit of 181 as Salt’s innings briefly threatened to stall.
“That was a really good performance,” said England captain Jos Buttler. “People say you learn when you lose, but you learn when you win as well.
“We bowled well to restrict a powerful batting line-up. We were smart with the bat too, the guys were very calculated. Jonny took the game deep and Salty broke it in one over.”
Only last weekend, England were still flirting with a humiliating early exit, watching the rain pour as they waited desperately to get on against Namibia, and even later than that, praying on an Australian victory over Scotland, who went mightily close to claiming two scalps in one.
Now, though, they are on the cusp of the semi-finals, with a healthy Super 8 net-run-rate and knowing victory against either one of South Africa and USA in the coming days will likely send them into the last-four.
Having won the toss and chosen to chase, England brought the pace of Mark Wood back into the XI for Chris Jordan, with Will Jacks again sitting out as Liam Livingstone beat fitness and sickness concerns to make the side.
West Indies, who had laid on 218 for five when trouncing Afghanistan on the same ground on Tuesday, were unbeaten heading into the contest but an explosive bating unit never quite fired.
The co-hosts lost opener Brandon King retired hurt inside the powerplay and were strangely subdued against England’s spinners, with Adil Rashid the pick in a miserly spell of one for 21 from his four overs as West Indies were restricted 180 for four.
Heading into the back end of the innings, a total in excess of 200 still look plausible, but Rashid and Jofra Archer were magnificent, conceding just six runs between them across the 16th and 17th overs and removing Andre Russell and Nicholas Pooran in the process.
Salt and Buttler shared an opening stand of 67 but when the skipper and Mooen Ali — promoted to No3 — fell, England were behind the run-rate at 82 for four just beyond the halfway stage.
Cue Bairstow’s arrival to push the game on, punishing Rovman Powell’s decision to return to the pace of Alzarri Joseph with successive boundaries, then taking down Akeal Hosein in the following over to the rune of 16 runs.
That took the ask down to 40 from 30 balls, at which point Salt caught second-wind and kicked for home, crashing three fours and three sixes off that decisive Shepherd over to ensure England would win at a canter.
