England seal T20 sequence victory in West Indies as Jos Buttler’s aspect maintain their nerve to say tense three-wicket win

England claimed a first Twenty20 series victory away from home since becoming world champions two years ago with another successful chase.

This latest victory, by three wickets, was nowhere near as straightforward as the previous two despite the 146-run target being the smallest of the lot.

Dew in Barbados last weekend made the ball skip on, but here it stuck in the surface for longer, making Jos Buttler’s hat-trick of correct toss calls less influential than it might have been.

Ultimately, it was West Indies’ poor fielding that proved costly as Liam Livingstone was dropped three times during a crucial 39 – twice in single figures by wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran and then again by Shimron Hetmyer on 21.

In a dramatic finale, Hetmyer also misjudged a boundary catch off Dan Mousley that went for six.

West Indies were marginally ahead when Will Jacks departed in the 11th over, with England 75 for four, but Sam Curran dealt with the pressure and alleviated it when with 44 required from 31 he pumped the final ball of Gudakesh Motie’s spell for six.

Sam Curran hit an impressive 41 to guide England to victory in Saint Lucia

Curran teamed up with Liam Livingstone to put together a match-winning partnership

Rehan Ahmed (right) hit the winning runs as England won their first T20 series away from home in over two years

Curran fell for a top score 41 in the next over, which cost Terrance Hinds a meaty 14, but Livingstone got his team to within four runs of the finish line before holing out and Rehan Ahmed slashed over backward point with four balls unused.

That England took an unassailable 3-0 lead, claiming a first away series since a 4-3 in Pakistan in autumn 2022 was chiefly down to Saqib Mahmood’s outstanding opening spell of 3-0-15-3.

England lost three early wickets themselves, but it was the damage done at the start of the match that was lasting.

‘As a bowling unit we had that mindset of taking wickets, they are stacked with batting the whole way down but we haven’t held back,’ he said.

‘In the past I felt I was keeping someone else’s spot warm. This has been a chance to express myself.’

Prior to this series, his power play wickets for England had cost 98.5 runs apiece, but bowling almost two metres fuller on average than in the past has coincided with a sharp spike in his success rate.

Here, he credited captain Buttler for two of his three scalps: his insistence on keeping third man back resulted in a miscue from Evan Lewis travelling into the hands of the tumbling Jofra Archer while he exploited Hetmyer’s susceptibility to short balls outside his eyeliner perfectly.

In between, Roston Chase became the fourth victim in a 17-ball spell when he sliced to slip.

At that point, the home team were in danger of imploding, but captain Roman Powell stood firm, successfully overturning a leg before decision on 35 and top-scoring for a second match in a row, this time with 41-ball 54.

The majority of those runs came during a 73-run alliance with Romario Shepherd, but instead of launching from a position of 110 for five after 15 overs, West Indies fell away courtesy of Jamie Overton’s career-best England bowling.

Never before had he claimed more than one wicket in an international innings, but his clever change-ups duped the two set batters plus Gudakesh Motie for a return of three for 20.

Saqib Mahmood took three wickets as England made a dominant start after winning the toss

Jamie Overton (left) also took three wickets for Jos Buttler’s men as England sealed a series victory with two matches to spare

The start was delayed by 50 minutes due to a combination of spongy areas of the outfield causing concern to umpires Leslie Reifer and Deighton Butler and a rain shower coinciding with the rescheduled toss time.

England’s acting head coach Marcus Trescothick could be seen pressing the soles of his boots into the dampest areas not long after the tourists arrived at the Daren Sammy Stadium, and sand was sprinkled on the boundary edge to aid the footing of fielders.

Greasy surfaces here in the Caribbean have already accounted for Reece Topley, who was flying home overnight and is due to undergo scans on his right knee in London on Friday.

Topley also has hamstring discomfort after slipping in his bowling folllow-through as rain fell in the first T20 in Barbados. It is the latest set-back for the 30-year-old, following a freakish twisting of his ankle on boundary cushions that sidelined him during the 2022 World Cup.