Buttler Half-Century in Vain as England Succumb To T20 Series Defeat Against West Indies

England missed an opportunity to draw level in the ongoing T20 series against West Indies after succumbing to their second defeat on Tuesday as the hosts successfully chased the target of 153 runs with seven balls remaining.

The visitors had a stuttering start in the opening innings with Michael Lumb (4) walking back to the pavilion after being caught leg before wicket by Krishmar Santokie in the second over. Moeen Ali (3) was the left-handed bowler's next victim in a similar fashion with the scoreboard reading 21 for the loss of two wickets.

Eoin Morgan, who is captaining England in the absence of the injured Stuart Broad, contributed only three runs to the tally as Lendl Simmons caught his attempted sweep off Samuel Badree's delivery at deep square-leg.

The visitors' hopes were rekindled as Jos Buttler (67) and Alex Hales (40) helped their side race past the 100-run mark. But Dwayne Bravo broke their partnership after dismissing the latter in the 14<sup>th over.

Buttler went on to complete his half-century but Santokie struck twice to dismiss the wicketkeeper and Ravi Bopara (14) in the 19<sup>th over. Tim Bresnan (7) was England's last casualty of the innings as Bravo picked his second wicket of the day to end the visitors' innings at 152 runs at the loss of seven wickets.

West Indies started brightly with Dwayne Smith (30) and Chris Gayle (36) leading the chase. The opening pair managed a partnership of 48 runs for the first wicket within five overs. Jade Dernbach struck to dismiss the former after the right-handed batsman's attempted shot could only find Bresnan's hand.

However, the hosts maintained their momentum despite Gayle's dismissal in the 11<sup>th over. Having lost three wickets by the 16<sup>th over with 116 runs on the board, two quick wickets in the next over seemed to tilt the game towards England as Bresnan dismissed Marlon Samuels (28) and Andre Russell (2) in two successive deliveries.

But Darren Sammy knocked a match-winning performance with seven deliveries to spare to seal the three-match series 2-0. The skipper smashed 30 runs from just nine deliveries which included two fours and three sixes as Bravo partnered him contributing eight runs.

Santokie was declared the Man of the Match for his four-wicket haul.