West Indies thrash England by nine wickets to lead the five-match series 1-0

A clinical performance by West Indies propelled them to a nine-wicket win against England in the first of the five-match series at Kensington Oval. 

After winning the toss and electing to field first, the home team endured a perfect start to the innings as Sheldon Cottrell scalped the big wicket of Jason Roy on the last ball off the first over. In the following over, the visiting side were jolted with twin blows as Jason Holder accounted for Tom Banton and Moeen Ali off successive deliveries to help Windies scalp three wickets in the first two overs. 

With three wickets down for ten runs, the onus of the side relied heavily on Eoin Morgan and James Vince. The duo have a wealth of experience playing in this format of the game and looked to consolidate the innings. However, after smashing14 runs off the first five deliveries of the fifth over bowled by Cottrell, Vince smashed a wide short-pitched delivery to short covers to give the Windies their fourth wicket in the powerplay. 

The visiting side were reeling at 26 for the loss of four wickets after the completion of the field restrictions and were in dire need of a partnership to get them to a decent first innings total. However, Akeal Hossain provided the home team with a wicket in his first over as Billings was stumped for two runs courtesy of a typical left-arm spinners dismissal. 

While all eyes were on skipper Eoin Morgan to help the team crawl out of this situation, the southpaw managed to score only 17 runs off 29 deliveries before being dismissed. With seven wickets down and only 49 runs on the board, Adil Rashid and Chris Jordon's 36-run partnership for the eighth wicket helped England reach a modest total on the board. 

After scoring a valuable 28 off 23 deliveries, including three sixes, Jordon was dismissed as he tried to take on the spinner to give the side some much-needed runs in the back end of the innings. Rashid contributed with a valuable 22 as England managed to score 103 runs before being dismissed courtesy of a sublime spell from Jason Holder. The right-arm pacer returned with figures of four for seven in 3.4 overs, his best in T20I to help West Indies bowl out England. 

In pursuit of 104 runs, West Indies got off a perfect start as the opening combination of Shai Hope and Brandon King added 52 runs for the first wicket. 

Despite the wicket of Hope, King, along with Nicholas Pooran, consolidated the innings with an unbeaten 52-run partnership. The duo powered the Windies to a comprehensive win. En route to his match-winning stand, the right-handed batter scored a sublime half-century, his second in T20Is to help Windies script a famous victory. 

Displaying an array of strokes all around the ground, King anchored the innings with an unbeaten 52 off 49 deliveries studded with four boundaries and one six to propel West Indies to go 1-0 up in the series. 

In less than 24 hours, the two sides will lock horns in the second match of the series.