BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC) – Alex Hales and Joe Root smashed centuries to leave West Indies with a record run chase in order to win the third and final One-Day International against England at Kensington Oval on Thursday.
Sent in, England equalled their highest-ever total against the West Indies with 328 all out off their 50 overs, with Hales gathering 110 and Root, 101.
Ben Stokes chipped in with 34 but no other batsman reached 20 as the innings fell away late on. England were 241 for three at the end of the 40th over but underachieved in the last 10, with only 87 runs coming for the loss of seven wickets.
Twenty-year-old fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, playing his first game of the series in place of the injured Shannon Gabriel, claimed four for 76 while captain and fellow seamer Jason Holder picked up three for 41.
Not for the first time in the series, West Indies experienced early success but failed to capitalise on the breakthrough and paid the price.
In the sixth over with the score on 27, Jason Roy drove Joseph into Holder’s lap at mid-off to depart for 17 but Hales and Root then dominated the hosts in a second wicket stand worth 192.
Hales, in his first match of the series after sufficiently recovering from a broken hand sustained on the recent tour of India, faced 107 deliveries and crunched nine fours and five sixes to record his fifth ODI hundred.
Root, meanwhile, coming off an unbeaten 90 in the second game in Antigua last Sunday, counted 10 fours in a 108-ball knock to post his eighth ODI hundred.
Hales started slowly but quickly grew in confidence to reach his half-century off 52 balls with a cover-driven boundary off expensive leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo in the 21st over which leaked 18 runs.
More in today’s Daily Observer.