Spinner Garey Mathurin enjoyed a memorable debut as he inspired the West Indies to a surprise 25-run win over England in the second Twenty20 international at the Oval on Sunday. The 28-year-old left-armer from St Lucia took 3-9 in his four overs as England crumbled in pursuit of the West Indies’ total of 113-5 and were bowled out for 88, their lowest total in a Twenty20 international. On a turning pitch, Mathurin opened the attack and bowled Craig Kieswetter, Ravi Bopara and Jonny Bairstow in quick succession to give the tourists a stranglehold on the game.
“The English had not seen me before and I thought I could get the job done,” said Mathurin. “Everybody was together. We came out there with a point to prove.”
England captain Graeme Swann said: “We put ourselves in a position where we should not have lost the game. “To not chase 113 is unacceptable in international cricket. The West Indies played well but not well enough to bowl us out for 88. But you can’t argue with a guy who gets 3-9.”
Ben Stokes hit some big shots in making 31 but was trapped in front by leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and in a much-improved West Indies fielding performance Samit Patel was run out by a direct hit from Bishoo. Joss Buttler and Scott Borthwick were both run out and with them went England’s last hopes of a successful run chase and when Jade Dernbach was last man out he was the fourth run out victim of the innings. This was England’s first defeat in any form of the game since July 3, when they lost the third one-day international against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. The win was also sweet revenge for the West Indies who were crushed by 10 wickets in Friday’s first game as the two-match series ended 1-1.
Samit Patel took 2-22 as the West Indies were kept to 113, a total that did look big enough until their spinners came into action. After their defeat on Friday the tourists were hoping to post a bigger total but their depleted batting line-up was kept in check by England’s slower bowlers who were shrewdly rotated by Swann. The West Indies, who were put in by England, struggled to get the bowling away and Marlon Samuels was the only batsman to make more than 30, hitting 35 not out. The tourists struggled to get the English bowling away and by the end of the 14th over they had just 62 on the board and at one point went 43 balls without hitting a boundary.
