West Indies v England: third men’s T20 cricket international

Key events

7th over: West Indies 46-5 (Shepherd 5, Powell 16) Ahmed comes into the attack for England in their first bowling change. West Indies might be in dire straights but they have two batters here that can still do some damage. They need to get to a respectable score to give England some sort of challenge. This pitch is still a dangerous one for England, given the moisture in the air and the unknown pace and bounce.

6th over: West Indies 39-5 (Shepherd 1, Powell 13) Hetmyer went for a duck in the first T20, remember, but shows real swagger to handsomely drive Mahmood back over his head. That would normally have gone for four, but sand in the outfield – soaking up the rain from earlier – stops the ball from reaching the rope. The next shot, not so handsome as he finds Mousley with that silly hook. Shepherd is the next man in, and he nurdles one to gully to get off the mark.

WICKET! Hetmyer 2, c Mousley b Mahmood (West Indies 37-5)

Hetmyer falls for England’s trap, hook, line and sinker! Mahmood bowls a perfect bouncer and Hetmyer bits, swinging his bat blindly over his head. Mously takes an easy catch at at deep mid-wicket. It’s a good ball from Mahmood, but given the context of the match, it’s a very silly shot. Hetmyer seems to know that, bashing his own helmet with his willow as he leaves the field of play.

5th over: West Indies 34-4 (Hetmyer 0, Powell 12) Nothing nervy about Powell’s next shot, as he clobbers Archer over cover for six. Woof. Archer responds with four dot balls in the over but Powell will keep the strike with a single. Hetmyer is yet to get off the mark. The run rate is at just under seven. What is a competitive total now for the West Indies?

4th over: West Indies 26-4 (Hetmyer 0, Powell 5) Mahmood is getting some serious movement in damp conditions. He’s having a ball out there, beaming widely in between his deliveries. Nine from the over as Powell nudges a few nervy shots into the air past England catches, but the West Indies captain survives. The Windies cannot afford to lose their skipper.

WICKET! Chase 7, c Overton b Mahmood (West Indies 21-4)

This is brilliant bowling, as Chase goes to a Test-type delivery, driving at a length ball outside of off. There is a bit of movement away, Chase nicks it, and Overton gobbles the catch at first of two slips! West Indies are all over the gaff!

3rd over: West Indies 17-2 (Hetmyer 0, Chase 3) Two slips for England! The tourists smell blood. Archer resumes and Chase chips one towards Livingstone, the ball just falling short of the Lancashire man. Archer removes Pooran and the Sussex man will fancy a few more wickets on his pitch.

WICKET! Pooran 7, b Archer (West Indies 17-3)

Eeeeeeeesh. Another awful cricket shot, with Pooran – on his 101st T20I appearance for the West Indies – drags his bat across the line with his head in the clouds. Not a wise thing to do against 90mph Archer, who sends a delivery rattling straight into the unguarded stumps.

Nicholas Pooran with a wild swing as his bails fly. Photograph: Ricardo Mazalán/AP

2nd over: West Indies 13-2 (Pooran 6, Chase 0) Lewis and Pooran come out swinging but these are not confident strokes, with the batters struggling to pick the bounce and pace of this pitch, which is definitely a bit soggy. Lewis twice tops the ball, the latter effort sending him back to the dressing room. Chase sees out the rest of the over, but it’s been a very rocky start for the hosts.

WICKET! Lewis 3, c Archer b Mahmood (West Indies 13-2)

Some absolutely dreadful batting, this, as Lewis tries to pull a drivable ball from Mahmood. There’s a top edge, and the ball carries over the slip area all the way to Archer on the boundary.

1st over: West Indies 5-1 (Pooran 0, Lewis 1) Lewis gets away with one on the second ball of the match, spooning the ball into the air but just short of deep fine leg running in. There is definitely some moisture in the air here, and the ball is swinging wildly for Archer. The run out of Hope really is a body blow for the West Indies, who have been so poor in the powerplay so far in this T20 series.

WICKET! Hope run out Bethall b Archer (West Indies 5-1)

Some indecision between the wickets after Hope prods one onto the on side. Bethall runs around, has one stump to aim at and hits it cleanly from 20 yards away! What a throw. Hope is out, and absolutely furious as he trods back to the pavilion.

England’s Jofra Archer has the ball in his hand. Let’s go!

The national anthems are played. Daren Sammy, the West Indies head coach and Saint Lucian after who this stadium is named, is singing his heart out. Good man.

A shame for Shandon King, who hit a century against England in the ODI series.

Team news

West Indies

Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hosein, Terrance Hinds.

Shai Hope in for King, Joseph in for Forde, Hetmyer for Rutherford. There are a few injuries that have come at a bad time for the West Indies.

England

Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Rehan Ahmed, Saqib Mahmood.

Rehan Ahmed comes in for his mentor Adil Rashid, England’s lead spinner who looks like he is being rested.

England win the toss and opt to bowl

Rovman Powell shakes his head in disbelief. England win another toss and will chase, which is what they always like to do.

Play will begin in 10 minutes.

The toss will take place at 8.30pm GMT. So play to commence shortly after that.

Looks like the covers are coming off. Hurrah!

Liam Livingstone was talking earlier today about this pitch having more pace and bounce than the one in Barbados, so it should be a lively game when things get underway.

It is raining in St Lucia, which means the 8.15pm GMT start is looking increasingly unlikely.

Topley to fly home to England after injury

Reece Topley has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 series through injury, and is to fly home from St Lucia.

Topley sustained an injury during the first T20. Here are some details of how from Cameron Ponsonby’s match report.

Topley, who has a long history of serious injuries, bowled one more ball, slipped and fell. As he lay on the ground in pain, the covers finally came on. After the restart, he bowled a single delivery that was struck for six and left the pitch immediately in clear discomfort. As he walked up the changing room stairs, he grabbed a nearby plastic chair and smashed it over the bannister in frustration.

The umpires are huddled and prodding their feet around a patch of the outfield literally one yard from the boundary. Not sure that is where the game is going to be won and lost, lads.

The covers are currently on the pitch, but that seems to be a pre-cautionary measure, rather than there being rain in the air.

The start has been delayed to 8.15pm GMT at the Daren Sammy Stadium due to a wet outfield. We will have the toss imminently.

Earlier today, Glen Maxwell did Glen Maxwell things for Australia against Pakistan.

Wednesday marked two years since England’s men became world T20 champions.

Ben Stokes clinches England’s second T20 World Cup title in Pakistan win – video

Preamble

Hello world! A rare over-by-over report for me tonight (be kind) as England look to win this five-match T20 series at the earliest available opportunity. That would be a welcome return to form for Jos Buttler and co after the ODI series defeat here in the West Indies.

Buttler spoke last week about the threat of losing the England captaincy after the T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India and so a strong performance here is absolutely imperative. England will be going all out for a whitewash T20 series win, especially after the ODI failure.

After the feel-good match-winning performances in Barbados of Phil Salt and Jacob Bethall – two England players that were raised on the island – we turn now to St Lucia for the third T2o. Based upon the below video, it looks absolutely awful there right now. Both the fourth and fifth T20s of this series will also be played here.

Play starts at 8pm GMT, or 3pm if you are lucky enough to be in St Lucia.