England Level West Indies Series After Stuttering to Three-Wicket Win
England had Ravi Bopara's composure to thank after setting up a series decider against the West Indies following a three wicket win in the second one-day international in Antigua.
With the tourists rocking at 105 for 7 in reply to the home side's sub-par total of 159 all out, Bopara (38) put on 58 for the eighth wicket with captain Stuart Broad (28) who hit the winning runs as England claimed just their second competitive win in five months.
Earlier, Lendl Simmons' 70 from 98 balls salvaged a West Indies innings which looked doomed to fall short of a threatening total after Stephen Parry took 3 for 32 on debut and Joe Root 2 for 15 including the prized scalp of opening Dwayne Smith.
In response, England were on the brink of collapse after another middle-order failure with Luke Wright (0), Ben Stokes (4) and Joe Buttler (0) all being dismissed to leave Broad's side seven down and still 55 short of victory.
But the skipper combined well with Bopara to see England home and set up a series decider in Antigua on Wednesday.
"Delighted to have won, we made it hard work," said Broad. "The bowling was awesome, the way the guys learnt from the other day.
"It's been quite a hard wicket to score on. We had a wobble but great to get over the line. There's some turn for the spinners and were hard to score off. It creates pressure and wickets come.
"That's what Ravi is batting at No. 7 for, we know he's a good finisher. It's great to see him take that responsibility on. We took it five runs at a time which helped our minds stay clear."
West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo added: "It was a poor batting display. I expected better. We keep losing early wickets and it's something we have to look at.
"We have a never-say-die attitude, we didn't want to drop our heads. We knew we had Sunil Narine and Miller. Happy with the bowling group but let down by the batters. [The lower order] will get some harsh words."
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