England clinches T20 series against West Indies as Brook's winning start as captain continues
BRISTOL, England (AP) — England captain Harry Brook praised the unity of his 'group of mates' after sealing his second series win in just 11 days in charge on Sunday.
England won the second Twenty20 cricket international against West Indies by 4 wickets with nine balls to spare to take an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. England scored 199-6 in 18.3 overs after West Indies lost the toss and reached 196 in its 20 overs
Brook has won five on the bounce against the West Indies since taking over from Jos Buttler, after sweeping the tourists 3-0 in the ODI matches.
England did not have it easy at Bristol, with the asking rate climbing past 11 an over at one stage as it chased down West Indies' stiff target.
But the team stuck together to get over the line, with five of the top six making handy contributions before Jacob Bethell (26) and Tom Banton (30 not out) hammered 56 off just 21 deliveries between them to puncture the West Indian resistance.
It was the kind of game England was losing in the difficult final days under Buttler, whose reign ended with eight straight defeats across both formats.
England beat West Indies by 21 runs in the T20 series opener runs on Friday.
After dominating the West Indies in three one-day internationals, England was expected to receive a tougher fight from the visitors, who are higher-rated in T20s than ODIs
The West Indies did have No. 2-ranked T20 bowler Akeal Hosein back with them on Sunday. Hosein missed the first T20 as he was unable to travel to England in time because of recent changes to U.K. visa entry requirements for Trinidad and Tobago citizens.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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