By Mercy Kosgei

West Indies claimed the victory in the 3rd and final ODI in Barbados. Carty scored international in 97 balls staying unbeaten on 128 King making his 3rd ODI in 113 balls. After crumbling to 24-4 in 10 overs England managed 263-8.

Keacy Carty and Brandon King shared 209 runs for second wicket to steer West Indies to a win against England by 8 wickets to claim a series win. Carty scored 128(114) not out in 8 wickets win while Brandon King managed 102(117).

Carty made history in 2022 when he became the first cricketer from Sint Maarten to represent West Indies and since then he has performed well. Being Kings 3rdODI it was his first time playing against England.

Phil Salt managed 74 off 108 balls which was led him accumulate points slowly and guided his team to a competitive total. Sam Curran scoring 40- and 23-year-old Dan Mousley 57 which is in his 3rd ODI and both produced an impressive ODI. Romario Shepherd injury changed the fortunes when his first ball of the 42nd over hit the deck. The fast bowler had to be helped out of the field and could not continue due to a cramp.

England has lost a series in the Caribbean for the fifth time in less than 3 years. The conditions in Barbados were hard to bat especially during the opening 25 overs. Captain Liam commented on a post-match presentation, “I’ve played a lot of crickets in the world and I don’t think I’ve ever played in a game where conditions have changed so much from one innings to the next.”

West indies captain Shai Hope in a post-match interview said,” I would have to say the dominance pleased me most. We asked for consistency and discipline and that’s exactly what the guys did. The main thing if you want to be an elite team is that you have got to do things consistently. It’s a big plus for us, the work is really showing. The guys are putting a lot of work in off the field. It’s a great confidence booster especially for the batting unit.”

Stand-in England captain Liam Livingstone commented after the game said,” We batted back really well with the bat [from 24-4]. The boys in the middle put on a decent partnership and ended really well. Ultimately, we didn’t get enough runs. Disappointed with the end to the series but there have been a lot of good parts. We are missing a lot of players. We have a lot of people to come back into the team. Hopefully the younger boys that haven’t played that much international cricket have learned a lot”

The two teams will face off again in a five match T 20 series which will be played on Saturday.