England [296/6] beat West Indies [251] by 45 runs to take 1-0 ODI series lead

[MenInG]

First game of the much anticipated series


West Indies Team
E Lewis, KC Brathwaite, KOA Powell, SD Hope†, JN Mohammed, JL Carter, JO Holder*, CR Brathwaite, AR Nurse, D Bishoo, ST Gabriel

England Team
JJ Roy, SW Billings, JE Root, EJG Morgan*, BA Stokes, JC Buttler†, MM Ali, CR Woakes, AU Rashid, LE Plunkett, ST Finn

West Indies win the toss and bowl,

[HitWicket]

Toss any minute, start in half an hour, no overs lost.

[Markhor]

No idea what Jonathan Carter has done to merit selection, his ODI record is woeful. I'd rather have seen Sunil Ambris who outperformed him in the Nagico50.

Not sure about Kraigg Brathwaite in ODIs, his SR is well below what's required in the modern game.

Hopefully the standoff with Darren Bravo is resolved soon to shore up that middle-order.

[Markhor]

Dujon is saying it looks a slow, tacky pitch.

9 out of the last 10 captains who've chosen to bowl first at Antigua have won.

[Markhor]

Decent English contingent. Don't blame them looking at the winds and rain outside my window.

[Markhor]

This is a good start from Shannon Gabriel.

[Markhor]

Shannon Gabriel is beating the bat again and again here.

Got to get a wicket from this spell.

[Markhor]

And he does get a wicket. Gabriel's deserved that.

Roy gone LBW.

[Ab Fan]

Impressive from Gabriel..

Got his first wicket well deserved.

[Hasan123]

Hope Gabriel can stay fit. A very good bowler.

[nighthawk23]

not a fan of Holder as a frontline bowler

[Hasan123]

Brilliant from Gabriel

[Markhor]

Brilliant delivery ! Gabriel on fire.

[ExpressPacer]

Gabriel is bowling extremely well. Amazing pace and good bounce. What a terrific delivery to get rid off Root.

[ExpressPacer]

Holder looks so innocuous to be honest.

[Citizen4]

who is Jan Mohammad in West indies?

[ExpressPacer]

Slip fielder and Keeper spill a chance from Morgan off Brathwaite. Would've been 38-3. Morgan will not let this go easily now.

[Stallion__]

Cricket needs more commies like Fazeer

[Markhor]

who is Jan Mohammad in West indies?

Jason Mohammad has been around for a while on the domestic circuit. Performed really well in the recent Nagico50, think he averaged above 60.

[Markhor]

Some lovely reverse sweeps from Billings.

[Markhor]

Morgan's struggling for fluency and rhythm in this innings. Played out a lot of dots.

[Markhor]

Ashley Nurse has lacked control, been the most expensive of the bowlers. Might be worth bringing Bishoo on instead.

[Hamza_]

WI tour will be tough

[Markhor]

Disappointing from Bishoo so far. A few times he hasn't got his line right.

Mohammed, Carter, Powell and K Brathwaite can all bowl so you can make up Bishoo's 10 over quota elsewhere.

[Markhor]

Terrific catch by Carter at slip ! Buttler gone, big wicket.

[Markhor]

Here we go - Stokes vs West Indies - the rematch.

[Smbhayi]

Jason Mohammad has been around for a while on the domestic circuit. Performed really well in the recent Nagico50, think he averaged above 60.

isn't he's a spinner, the tall one?

[Markhor]

isn't he's a spinner, the tall one?

There's Dave Mohammed, the left arm chinaman. He hasn't played since 2013.

Jason Mohammad is more of a batsman who can bowl a bit.

[Markhor]

England finish on 296/6 after 50 overs.

West Indies will be disappointed given the start they had. Lack of control and wicket-taking threat after the 25 over mark. Bishoo was poor today.

[Hasan123]

Markhor seems to be the only one really interested in this game.

[Markhor]

Markhor seems to be the only one really interested in this game.

Doing some scouting before our tour next month !

Plus Windies are my second team.

[Hasan123]

Doing some scouting before our tour next month !

Plus Windies are my second team.

Will definitely watch the highlights.

West Indies seem to have selected a young team and all the talk is about building for the next world cup so should be a good series between Pakistan vs West Indies.

[Hasan123]

Looking at the scorecard, Braithwaite is playing test innings here.

Don't know why West Indies have picked him in this format.

[HitWicket]

Looking at the scorecard, Braithwaite is playing test innings here.

Don't know why West Indies have picked him in this format.

To be fair it's not exactly the easiest of pitches, most of the English batsmen had similar strike rates at this stage in their innings.

[Hasan123]

To be fair it's not exactly the easiest of pitches, most of the English batsmen had similar strike rates at this stage in their innings.

They can accelerate which unfortunately Braithwaite isn't capeble of.

[troodon]

WI are a terrible team.

All their match winners are playing in T20 leagues around the world.

[Markhor]

West Indies aren't out of this yet. Need a big knock from someone, it could be Jason Mohammed. Jonathan Carter's made a decent start too.

[Markhor]

Surprised Stokes hasn't had a bowl at all so far.

[HitWicket]

Surprised Stokes hasn't had a bowl at all so far.

Picked up a slight niggle and isn't being risked apparently.

[Markhor]

Picked up a slight niggle and isn't being risked apparently.

Ah I see.

Well Morgan's got enough overs from his pacers to get through to the end anyway.

[Markhor]

Good fifty from Carter, seems like he could do a job as a lower order hitter. He's not any success up the order.

[Markhor]

Bishoo having a swing here but its probably too late, WI don't have the wickets in hand to chase this.

WI lacked wicket-taking threat during the middle overs, Bishoo was way off today and Holder's captaincy was terrible. Why was he bowling a leggie against two left handed batsmen ?

Also, the bad start with the bat has cost them. Kraigg Brathwaite is a Test cricketer, he doesn't have the SR needed for modern era LOIs.

[TestMatch]

West Indies are so terribly managed. Alzari Joseph should be playing and Kieron Powell, Carlos and Kraigg shouldn't be playing. Darren Bravo should be begged back, and Carlos should be groomed into a test batsman, rather than a ODI and T20 player; he hasn't done anything useful in the shorter formats since we were prematurely forced to "remember his name".