Bridgetown: Sheldon Cottrell marked his return to the West Indies team with a five-wicket haul as the home side snatched a series-levelling 26-run victory over England in the second one-day international of a five-match series at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Friday. The 29-year-old Jamaican left-arm fast bowler returned figures of 5-46 as the top-ranked visitors lost their last six wickets for 35 runs to be dismissed for 263 in response to what looked a comparatively modest West Indies total of 289 for six.
“You need options in this day and age and Cottrell gave us that extra bit of variation with the ball,” said West Indies skipper Jason Holder of his match-winning bowler amid the victory celebrations. Earlier Cottrell had an immediate impact with the ball when he removed openers Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy, man of the match in the first ODI, in his first two overs.
He also accounted for England captain Eoin Morgan for a well-played 70, although it seemed at that stage the tourists’ batting depth was more than enough to take them to the target.For all of Cottrell’s heroics, it was Holder who turned the match on its head with ten overs left. He had Stokes caught behind for a top score of 79 and then removed Buttler in his next over.
