Skipper Eoin Morgan hails Chris Woakes as England seal series-clinching victory over West Indies
Skipper Eoin Morgan heaped praise on Chris Woakes after the all-rounder joined forces with Joe Root to guide England to a series-clinching victory over West Indies in the second one-day clash in Antigua.
England slipped to 124-6 in pursuit of a victory target of 226 before Woakes and Root shared an unbroken stand of 102 as the tourists won with 10 balls to spare.
Root top scored with 90, although Woakes more than played his part with 68, which followed a bowling performance where the 28-year-old went wicketless but conceded just 26 runs from eight overs.
“He’s a guy who just keeps giving within the team,” said Morgan. “He’s got a huge amount of experience as well and sometimes goes without the majority of the praise, which is typical of his character.
“He’s fantastic and it’s not the first time he has done it. A big game against Sri Lanka [at Trent Bridge] last year, he put on a fantastic partnership with Jos Buttler which got us over the line. He just keeps producing and is a luxury down the order.”
England now hold an unassailable lead in the three-match series, although Morgan has dismissed any notion of the squad being rotated for Thursday’s final match in Barbados.
“We want to be ruthless. We want to win all three games and will be putting out our best XI,” added Morgan.
Yorkshire seamer Liam Plunkett was the pick of the England bowlers with 3-32, while Steven Finn and Adil Rashid claimed two wickets apiece as West Indies were dismissed for 225. In securing his haul, Finn became the third-fastest Englishman to reach 100 one-day international wickets.
England recovered from the early loss of opener Sam Billings as Surrey’s Jason Roy struck a half-century, although England would lose a further four wickets for just 16 runs. Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali all fell cheaply.
But the ship was steadied as Root played the anchor role to Woakes’s more expansive knock as England recorded their 11th win out of their last 12 completed one-dayers against West Indies.