Harry Brook's England make a statement in Birmingham by demolishing the West Indies by a whopping 238 runs. The visitors were never in the game, their best moment in the whole game was the toss, which Shai Hope won. After that, England controlled the game and won it with ease to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
For now, that's all from us. This is Ajay Pal Singh signing off on behalf of my colleagues Anirudh Modi and Yogesh Kumar. Goodbye!!!
Harry Brook (England Captain): "That was a pretty phenomenal performance from the boys. I just spoke about the same things I say in the press. As a batting unit I want us to put away the bad balls and pile on runs. As a bowling unit I want us to hit the right areas and as a fielding unit I want us to be 100% committed.
Not concerning because you got 400 runs but that's something we can look at. There's 4 of us that got over 50 and if one of us can kick on from there, that would be a complete batting performance.
We got so much power as well. Smudge started really well and put them under pressure. That allowed others to get it and express themselves. Jacks ended the game really well too. There was a lot of energy in Saqib's bowling, he got the rewards he deserved. Same with Carsey and Jamie, they were bowling all gas.
The catches were going in alright. It's nice to get the series underaway in good fashion."
Shai Hope (West Indies Captain): "Yeah, you just explained it for me. We didn't get those early inroads. When you don't take wickets with the new ball, you are always playing catch-up. That's what happened with us.
Sometimes, you got to back your skills. In a situation we thought we pulled the game back nicely. Justin bowled well. Had we restricted them under 350-360, it would have been a different story.
I think it is more down to the execution. They are showing that they can do it in the training but we have a young group. It is only a matter of time before these guys hit the ground running. But it is international cricket, you have to make sure you execute if you want to compete with the best.
Yeah, I think we always have the quality. We have shown in the last few months that we have a good batting line-up. Chasing 400 is always a tough task. It is not necessarily a score you can chase easily. We didn't start well in the powerplay with both bat or bowl. We were always playing catch-up. Chasing 400, you need a great start but unfortunately, we didn't get that today."
Jacob Bethell (Player of the Match): "It's pretty special to play here for the first time for England and to top it off with a win and a performance like that is a special feeling.
I enjoy batting in the middle order, today was a pretty easy situation to come into, we were well on top. We lost a couple of wickets quickly but we recovered well to finish well.
Once I am in I can hit a lot of balls to the boundaries so I don't mind taking on a few dots at the start but yeah, the dots are not good for a batter, so I try to work them around or hit some strong shots.
I found the IPL experience very beneficial, I am a better player after 2 months in India. It was a good opportunity to be around Kohli and learn from him, and playing in India was a special experience."
Player of the Match: Jacob Bethell
England's biggest victory margins by runs in ODIs:
1. 242 runs vs Australia, 2018 2. 238 runs vs West Indies, 2025 - TODAY 3. 232 runs vs Netherlands, 2022 4. 210 runs vs New Zealand, 2015 5. 202 runs vs India, 1975
12:11 AM IST & 7:41 PM Local Time: The Harry Brook era starts with a massive win for England as they brush aside the West Indies by 238 runs to take 1-0 lead in the three-match series in Birmingham. The batters set it up by posted a mammoth total of 400/8 from their 50 overs and then the bowlers made light work of an inexperienced Windies batting line-up to won the game over 140 balls to spare.
Earlier in the game, West Indies won the toss and opted to bowl first. That was the only thing the visitors won in this contest, as after that, it was all England in Birmingham.
The new opening pair of Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett gave the hosts a flying start. England were 64/1 after 7 overs.
Smith fell for 38 but Duckett carried on and scored a half-century. He made 60 off 48. Joe Root walked in at 3 and he too scored a half-century. He scored 57 off 65.
Skipper Harry Brook, too, made a half-century before losing his wicket. Jos Buttler got a start but lost his wicket for 37. Jacob Bethell turned on the heat in the last few overs as he made 82 off just 53 balls. The southpaw accelerated after a slow start and helped England get to the 400-run mark.
Jayden Seales picked up four wickets but gave away 84 runs from his 9 overs. Matthew Forde conceded 88 runs from 8 overs and failed to pick up any wickets.
Alzarri Joseph and Justin Greaves picked up two wickets each. In reply, West Indies' innings started poorly as they lost Justin Greaves in the 3rd over.
Brandon King soon followed his opening partner back to the pavilion, losing his wicket in the next over.
Keacy Carty and Shai Hope steadied the ship somewhat by putting on a 36-run stand for the third wicket but Carty lost his wicket in the 10th over, leaving the Windies 3 down inside the first powerplay.
Once Hope fell for 25, the innings went downhill. Jayden Seales hit a couple of boundaries towards the end but it only brought the deficit under 250 as England strolled home to a huge win to start the series.