Sam Curran and Will Jacks starred as England beat West Indies by six wickets in the second ODI on Wednesday, December 6 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound in Antigua to make it 1-1 in the three-match series.

Curran, who bowled England’s most expensive spell in ODI history in the first match, made amends. The left-arm pacer won the Player of the Match award after he finished with figures of 7-0-33-3, picking the crucial wickets of Brandon King, Keacy Carty and Shimron Hetmyer.

Liam Livingstone also chipped in with three important scalps. Rehan Ahmed bowled brilliantly once again as he had figures of 10-0-40-2. Gus Atkinson did not disappoint either, finishing with more than decent figures of 6.4-0-28-2.

After West Indies were reduced to 23 for four in seven overs, Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford scored 68 and 63 respectively. The duo also put on 129 runs for the fifth wicket to give the Caribbean innings some sort of momentum.

Despite their efforts, the hosts could only manage to put on 202 in 39.4 overs. Romario Shepherd and Alzarri Joseph made 19 and 14 respectively to take the West Indies past the 200-run mark.

JACKS, BUTTLER TAKE ENGLAND HOME

England seized the initiative after scoring 74 runs in the powerplay, although they lost the wicket of Phil Salt. Gudakesh Motie got the wickets of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett to give West Indies a semblance of hope, but the visitors never allowed them to stage a comeback.

Jacks scored 73 runs off 72 balls with six fours and four sixes before Rutherford dismissed him. With the Three Lions at 116 for four, Harry Brook and Jos Buttler put on an unbeaten stand of 90 runs to take England past the finish line.

Brook, who scored a fifty in the opening game, scored 43 off 49 with two fours and as many sixes. Buttler also found his form back with a knock of 58 off 45. He also became the fifth English man to go past the 5000-run mark in ODIs.

England chased down the target with 17.1 overs to spare. The series decider will take place on Saturday, December 9 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.