West Indies 202 (Hope 68, Rutherford 63, Curran 3-33, Livingstone 3-39, Rehan 2-40) vs England

After another correct call at the toss from Jos Buttler, England were onto the front foot from the moment they started their bowling stint. Alick Athanaze had been the driving force of West Indies’ first-wicket century stand in the opening ODI, but this time Atkinson, in his second over, produced a superb lifter from just back of a length, that jagged wickedly back into the batter and grazed the inside-edge of his bat. Buttler gathered well with a tumble to his right and, though Atkinson seemed unsure, rightly called for the review.

Before the next over was done, West Indies were two-down. Curran had endured a chastening day in the opening contest, disappearing for an England-record 98 in 9.5 overs. But with a new batter in his sights, he offered a hint of width across Keacy Carty’s bows, and Zak Crawley at a wide lone slip reacted sharply to cling onto a sliced cut.

Suddenly, Curran had his mojo back, probing the bat on that waspish full length that has proven so effective in his T20 career, and suddenly it was 23 for 3 when Brandon King pressed forward on off stump to a delivery drifting across him, and snicked a fat edge straight into Crawley’s midriff at slip once more.

Shimron Hetmyer could do nothing to stop the rot. He saw off Curran’s next three deliveries with a defiantly straight bat, but was then pinned on the pad by the next, another full-length inswinger to the left-hander that seemed to be sliding down leg. Buttler, however, figured he might as well roll the dice, and was rewarded as Hawkeye showed the ball to be thumping leg stump.

West Indies had lost three wickets for three runs in the space of 14 balls, and at 23 for 4 after seven overs, it was already damage limitation. Hope, however, in the wake of his superb hundred on Sunday, wasn’t about to let the scoreline cramp his style, and three superb boundaries in Atkinson’s next over got the scoreboard moving again, each of them eased effortlessly down the ground.

It signalled the start of a vital 129-run stand between Hope and Rutherford, whose six-and-out innings on debut on Sunday had at least given an inkling of the power at his disposal. Having overlooked the spin of Will Jacks in that contest, Buttler threw Jacks the ball for an exploratory spell after the first powerplay, but Rutherford picked him off for a brace of off-side boundaries, after Hope had launched Brydon Carse over midwicket for the first six of the match.

Carse, however, kept pounding out his aggressive length, and as Rehan Ahmed entered the attack for another spell of precociously probing legspin, it was as if Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid had been reunited through England’s middle overs. On this occasion, neither man was able to force the breakthrough, but until Rutherford brought up his half-century with a hoisted six over deep midwicket off Rehan, the pair had been limited to a solitary edged boundary in 56 balls.

That stroke was the signal for Rutherford to up his tempo, with two thrashed boundaries to greet Liam Livingstone’s second over. Before he could consolidate, however, Livingstone bounced back in his subsequent over, inducing a scuffed drive to short cover for 63, and after Yannick Cariah played all round a straight one to be bowled for 5, Livingstone made it three wickets in as many over with the big scalp of Hope.

It took a superb delivery to dislodge West Indies’ captain and linchpin – a big-ripping legbreak, which dipped and gripped to thump the top of off stump and send him on his way for a run-a-ball 68. Hope swished his bat in annoyance as he left, knowing how crucial his endurance had been to his team’s hopes. At 163 for 7 in the 34th over, England sensed a chance to go in for the kill.

Romario Shepherd seemed to have other ideas as he helped himself to four fours in Livingstone’s sixth over, to threaten a similar bout of late acceleration to his matchwinning hand on Sunday. Before he could go big, however, Rehan tempted him into a miscued slog to long-on, and when Gudakesh Motie skewed Rehan’s googly to point, Rehan was able to sign off with another very impressive spell of 10-1-40-2.