It’s been more than 2 years since Chris Jordan donned the England jersey in an ODI match. Reports claim that his speed has dipped and he struggles with his stamina. But the way he throttled the Caribbean batters on Wednesday in St Lucia was simply astonishing.
Jordan returned with 2/16 in 3 overs. His major contribution in the game was knocking out Chris Gayle cheaply. The ‘Universe Boss’ may have had caused havoc in the ODIs but Jordan left him helpless with a well-directed Yorker last night.
Moreover, the effort he put to get rid of Darren Bravo was unparalleled. Bamboozled by a slower delivery, Bravo spooned the ball into the air. Jordon ran through the pitch and clung on to a one-handed diving catch which left the batsman completely stunned.
Here’s the video:
In his three overs, Jordan delivered 10 dot balls and along with Tom Curran (4/36), he played a crucial role in restricting the hosts on a total of 160.
In reply, the English visitors won the match by 4 wickets, with 7 balls to spare.
Bairstow’s innings turned out to be the saviour for his team after they lost Alex Hales and Joe Root within 2.3 overs. Along with skipper Eoin Morgan, the wicketkeeper-batsman stitched a 51-run stand for the third wicket to set England on course. Opening for the first time in T20Is, Bairstow recorded his highest score in the format. However, he fell I the 12th over as he mistimed a slog-sweep off Ashley Nurse.
After the dismissal of Morgan (8), Joe Denly and Sam Billing took the charge and built another 50-run partnership before losing their wickets in the 18th and 19th over respectively. With 7 needed off 2.5 overs, David Willey and Curran catered to the modest asking rate modest, helping England reach the target in 18.5 overs.