Rovman Powell hits fine ton to lead hosts to victory in third T20

JAN 27: Powell struck 107 off 53 balls, including 10 sixes, as he ruthlessly punished wayward bowling by England to record his maiden T20 ton. He put on 122 for the third wicket with Nicholas Pooran, who smashed 70 off 43, as the hosts posted 224-5, their highest T20 score against England. In reply, England opener Tom Banton made 73 off 39 and T20 debutant Phil Salt hit 57 off 24. But the rest of the order failed to fire as the much-changed tourists, without injured captain Eoin Morgan, could only reach 204-9. West Indies now lead the five-match series 2-1, with the final two games to be played on Saturday and Sunday. After taking 10 deliveries to play himself in, Powell unleashed his tremendous power - hitting the ball particularly cleanly down the ground in his first appearance of the series. He dismantled both seam and spin, dispatching the bowlers whenever they missed their lengths. The Jamaican also showed guile to work good deliveries into gaps in the field in order to scurry ones and twos as he became only the third West Indies batter after Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis to hit a T20 international ton. Powell, 28, has featured fairly regularly in West Indies' T20 side since his debut in 2017, without ever firmly establishing himself, but they will hope this knock signifies a coming of age. He built tremendously on the work of Pooran, who made an early onslaught before taking a relative backseat to Powell. The left-hander had posted his highest score in T20 internationals before he picked out Liam Livingstone at long on; the Lancashire player also taking a fine sliding catch to end a memorable knock from Powell. Much-changed England fail to convince England made five changes from the side which won the second T20, with batter Harry Brook and left-arm pace bowler George Garton making their first international appearances. Garton started well, producing a fine ball that knocked back Brandon King's off stump, but failed to find that length regularly enough as Pooran and Powell climbed into his bowling. England's shaky death bowling has come under increased scrutiny in recent months, but they erred throughout the whole innings here - failing to vary their pace well enough to check West Indies' progress. The rare combination of three left-arm seamers in the same side failed to pay dividends as only Reece Topley (1-30) threatened, while Garton and Tymal Mills were expensive. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid was excellent as usual in taking 1-25 but fellow spinners Livingstone and Moeen Ali, captaining in place of Morgan who pulled out just before with a slight quad injury, both went at 14 runs per over. Morgan has placed importance on development over results in this series and the performances of Banton and Salt will give him encouragement. Banton, who also kept in the absence of Sam Billings through illness, made his highest T20 international score, striking six sixes to give England hope before he picked out Jason Holder off Kieron Pollard. Salt similarly smashed anything on length in clearing the ropes five times, but was ultimately left with too much to do before he was bowled by a fine yorker from Romario Shepherd in the final over. 'Everything came out of the middle' - reaction England stand-in captain Moeen Ali: "A fantastic partnership took the game away from us but I'm proud of the way the boys batted at the end. "We are confident in our side and we said from the start it would be a brilliant series." Player of the match Rovman Powell: "I know I can strike the ball well. I had a problem against wrist spin and the last seven months I went away and have been working on that and opening up the off side. "Everything came out of the middle today."