Root ton propels England to easy win

Joe Root scored his second century of the World Cup as England crushed the West Indies by eight wickets in Southampton on Friday with 16.5 overs to spare.

The host nation won the toss and made the most of favourable bowling conditions on a day when the rain finally relented, bowling the West Indies out for 212.

But by the time they came to bat the sun was out and tournament favourites England rarely looked troubled, with Root in particular timing the ball beautifully during his 100 not out.

Test captain Root opened alongside Jonny Bairstow in place of the injured Jason Roy, who had limped off the field with a tight hamstring during the West Indies innings.

Root, who made 107 in England's defeat against Pakistan, made batting look easy, scoring a run-a-ball 50 without having to take unnecessary risks as he and Bairstow tamed the West Indies quicks.

Shannon Gabriel had Bairstow caught by Carlos Brathwaite for 45, leaving England 95-1, but Chris Woakes was quickly into his stride, drilling a four back past Gabriel off his third ball.

With the end in sight, Woakes was dismissed for 40, caught by Shimron Hetmyer off the bowling of Gabriel.

Root reached three figures off 93 balls with 11 fours and is now the tournament's top-scorer -- with a total of 279 runs in four innings.

England are now second in the World Cup table with three wins and one defeat, one point behind New Zealand, while the West Indies have won one, lost two and had one no result in their four matches. (Source: AFP)

 

England opener Joe Root authored a fantastic ton as England assailed West Indies’ score of 212 with eight wickets to spare in the World Cup game at Southampton.

Jonny Bairstow and Root started off the chase with a brilliant 95-run opening stand before the former fell to Shannon Gabriel in the 15th over. Chris Woakes came in at number three and struck 40 before falling at the late end of the chase. Root remained unbeaten on 100 off 94 deliveries, his innings laced with 11 fours as England reached the target in 33.1 overs.

 

English pacers dominate as WI slump to 212 all-out

West Indies are all-out for 212 as Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, the two fastest bowlers in this World Cup grab three wickets each. 

The Windies side came under a barrage from the English pace duo early on and lost three wickets for 55 runs. Nicholas Pooran (63) and Shimron Hetmyer (39) threatened to take the game away but Joe Root broke the vital fourth-wicket stand. Windies then slumped to 144 for four to 212 all-out. 

England bowled out the West Indies for 212 on Friday but they face a potential World Cup injury crisis after Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan limped off the pitch in Southampton.

Despite occasional flurries, the Caribbean side were never able to mount a sustained assault on England's bowlers after Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer conceded just eight runs off the first five overs of the match.

Fuelled by three wickets each for Archer and Mark Wood, England dismissed the West Indies with more than five overs to spare.

Barbados-born Archer insisted he didn't take extra pleasure from impressing against the country he was eligible to represent before chosing to play for England earlier this year.

"It's just another game to be honest, but it was very nice to play against some of my friends. The pitch wasn't as quick as it looked, it was a little bit slow," Archer said.

"I am being supported well by the other guys. At one point they were looking like getting 300 so it was a real good effort to keep them below 220."

Opener Chris Gayle, dropped early by Wood in the deep, briefly threatened, hitting Woakes for 10 in two balls, but was caught by Jonny Bairstow on the square-leg boundary for 36 off the bowling of Liam Plunkett.

During the course of his innings Gayle, who has previously indicated this will be his last World Cup, overtook Viv Richards as the leading scorer in one-day internationals between England and the West Indies.

Two balls after his dismissal West Indies were in deep trouble at 55-3 when Shai Hope was trapped in front of the wicket by Wood.

- Injury woes -

Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer combined to put on 89 runs for the fourth wicket before Test captain Joe Root struck, catching Hetmyer off his own bowling for 39.

Root, only an occasional bowler, then struck again in his next over when West Indies captain Jason Holder (nine) could only pop the ball up for another caught and bowled immediately after a six over long-off.

Andre Russell battered two sixes off leg spinner Adil Rashid in three balls, but then did not quite get hold of a Wood short ball and was caught by Woakes at deep midwicket.

England captain Morgan hobbled off the pitch in the 40th over, struggling to make his way up the pavilion steps.

Morgan had suffered a back spasm and was unable to bat for 28 minutes at the start of England's innings because he was off the field for that time.

When Pooran was caught behind for 63 by Jos Buttler off Archer, West Indies were 202-7.

Sheldon Cottrell was out to Archer's next ball, leaving the bowler on a hat-trick.

Oshane Thomas survived that but Carlos Brathwaite was out shortly afterwards, caught by Buttler off Archer, and Wood bowled Shannon Gabriel to end the innings.

Wood finished with figures of 3-18, while Archer took 3-30.

Earlier, Jason Roy, who scored a century in England's win against Bangladesh, pulled up with an injury and had to leave the field.

It was announced he would not field for the rest of the innings, suffering with tightness to his left hamstring, and therefore cannot bat higher than number seven. (Source: AFP)

 

West Indies' left-handed duo Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer pulled the team out of trouble after three early wickets -- an 89-run fourth-wicket stand -- but Joe Root came in and broke the partnership and the hosts gained control with a flurry of wicket.

West Indies 211 for 8 in 43 overs. Pooran struck 63 off 78 deliveries while Hetmyer cointributed with 39. Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Root bagged two wicket each for England.

 

England captain Eoin Morgan opted to bowl first in their World Cup match against the West Indies on Friday, unleashing Barbados-born Jofra Archer under heavy cloud cover in Southampton.

The tournament hosts were unchanged from the team that beat Bangladesh in their last outing but West Indies made three changes.

Evin Lewis and Andre Russell return from injury for the Caribbean side while fast bowler Shannon Gabriel makes his first appearance of the World Cup.

Darren Bravo, Ashley Nurse and Kemar Roach miss out.

"The wicket has been under covers for the last 24 hours and we predict there might be a bit of moisture in early on, so hopefully we can take advantage of that," said Morgan."

West Indies captain Jason Holder said he would also have chosen to bowl first had he won the toss

"It's an opportunity for our guys to get some runs," he said. "I would've liked to bowl first on a fresh wicket.

"We're up for the occasion, we know what is at stake. We've planned well and everyone is up for it.

"It's a matter of adapting to the individuals we're playing against. It's all about the surface as well.

Three of the past four matches at the World Cup in England and Wales have been wrecked by rain, with teams forced to share a point apiece.

Organisers will be desperate for the tournament to regain momentum with some big matches coming up, including India v Pakistan at Old Trafford on Sunday.

England have two wins and one defeat while the West Indies have a win, a defeat and a no result so far.

All 10 teams play each other in the round-robin phase to determine the four semi-finalists. (AFP,Southampton)

 

Toss

England have won the toss and they will be bowling first against the West Indies at The Rose Bowl in Southampton today. England are going into the game with an unchanged side from their game against Bangladesh.

Playing XIs: 

England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood. 

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmeyer, Jason Holder (capt), Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.

 

More to follow....