World Cup 2019: England register thumping 8-wicket win over West Indies

England registered a thumping 8-wicket win over West Indies at the Rose Bowl, Southampton on Friday. It was a dominating performance by England as they restricted West Indies to a modest total and then chased down the target with ease.

England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to field first. It was a perfect start for the hosts as Chris Woakes dismissed Evin Lewis for 2.

But Chris Gayle played with positive intent, putting pressure on the England bowlers, while Shai Hope struggled to time the ball. At the end of 10 overs, West Indies were 41 for 1.

Liam Plunkett struck by dismissing Gayle for 36, after he and Hope had added 50 runs for the 2nd wicket. In the next over, Mark Wood got the wicket of Hope to leave the Windies lineup reeling.

Shimron Hetymer and Nicholas Pooran then steadied the innings with good attacking stroke-play. Joe Root got the breakthrough, dismissing Hetymer for 39. Hetymer and Pooran had added 89 runs for the 4th wicket.

Root struck again soon, getting West Indies captain Jason Holder caught and bowled. That brought Andre Russell to the crease, and he played some thunderous strokes. At the other end, Pooran reached his fifty off 56 balls.

Jofra Archer was simply sensational at the end, dismissing Pooran and Sheldon Cottrell in a single over. England bowled out West Indies for 212 in 44.4 overs.

Wood and Archer took 3 wickets each, Root picked 2, while Woakes and Plunkett took 1 wicket each.

Chasing the target of 213 runs, Root and Jonny Bairstow got the hosts off to a flying start, dominating the bowlers right from the word go. At the end of 10 overs, the England openers had taken them to 62 for 0.

After the power play, Root and Bairstow showed their class with some intelligent batting. Shannon Gabriel got the breakthrough, dismissing Bairstow for 45, after the openers had added 95 runs for the first wicket.

Coming in at number 3, Chris Woakes joined the party while Root reached his fifty off 50 balls. It was smooth sailing for both the batsmen, and they did not allow the West Indies bowlers to settle.

Gabriel eventually got the wicket of Woakes for 40, after Root and Woakes had added 104 runs for the 2nd wicket. Root soon reached his century off 93 balls to help England register their 3rd win of the tournament.

Brief scores: England 213 for 2 in 33.1 overs (Joe Root 100*, Jonny Bairstow 45, Chris Woakes 40, Shannon Gabriel 2/49) beat West Indies 212 in 44.4 overs (Nicholas Pooran 63, Chris Gayle 36, Jofra Archer 3/30, Mark Wood 3/18) by 8 wickets.