Spin threat - the missing link in Windies' jigsaw puzzle
Thu, Feb 28, '19
It is the nightmare scenario doing the rounds in ODI cricket right now, the one no team wants to find themselves in. Bowling to this England batting line-up in the last ten overs of their innings when they have wickets in hand. It's not a job for the feint hearted. Hell, it's not even a job for the toughest of souls. More often than not, it's a situation which leads to serious punishment and in Grenada, it was West Indies' turn to suffer.
England were three wickets down at the end of the 40th over. Captain Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler were well set and ready to tee off which the tourists did to the tune of 154 runs in the last ten overs. It was the most runs England have ever scored in the final sixty balls of an ODI innings, beating the 135 they managed against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 2016 on the way to a world-record total of 444.
According to CricViz, over the last four years, England's average run rate in the last ten overs is 8.26, the fastest in the world, so this performance wasn't much of a surprise. It's just what they do. In the same period, West Indies have conceded nearly eight runs an over with the ball at the death, the second worst of any side who has qualified for the World Cup. It's just what they do, too. And at St George's, it wasn't hard to see why.
