WI 2/0 (0.3 ov, Brandon King 1*, Evin Lewis 0*, Saqib Mahmood 0/2) – Live – England vs West Indies 3rd ODI Match Live Score, Summary
1:28pm Afternoon everyone! All a bit later than expected, but we’re on the cusp of some actual cricket at the Kia Oval – at least for as long the weather gods allow. Brook leads England out as Brandon King and Evin Lewis (first start of the series) skip onto the field. Let’s get it on. Mahmood to start, three slips in…
1.20pm: Right then, after all the messing around, we are almost ready to go at The Oval. The weather is holding off, the ground is filling up… and here’s the nearest thing we have to a London cabbie, Vithushan Ehantharajah, to steer you through the opening exchanges. Have fun
1.10pm: England win the toss and bowl, a pretty straightforward call given the conditions. They are unchanged, so no place for Luke Wood in the end. Harry Brook, by no means a local, reveals the secret to getting around London in timely manner: “We were on the bus for a while, then we all decided to get off and get on some lime bikes.” He’s now focusing on the game. “Let’s try and be as dominant as possible, try and win 3-0,” he says. West Indies, meanwhile, have made three changes, bringing in Shamar Joseph, Sherfane Rutherford and the fit-again Evin Lewis – who made 176 on this ground in 2017 – for Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer and Jewel Andrew. “We were a lot more competitive,” says Shai Hope of the Cardiff encounter, “we executed with bat and ball. Want to see the same today.”
England: 1 Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Matthew Potts, 11 Saqib Mahmood
West Indies: 1 Brandon King, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Shai Hope (capt & wk), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Justin Greaves, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Jayden Seales, 11 Shamar Joseph
1.05pm: “Covers coming off,” reports Matt. Serious danger of a cricket match breaking out here, folks. “Wood, Potts, Mahmood, Rashid marking run-ups.” So that might mean a rest for Brydon Carse’s toes
12.55pm: The Windies players are warming up, presumably involving plenty of stretching after however long sat on the team bus. Lots of gaps in the stands at the moment, but I can’t see any umbrellas, which is promising… For those of you catching up on today’s unusual delay, here is Matt Roller’s news piece
12.43pm: Toss at 1.10pm, start at 1.30pm (assuming the rain hasn’t set in by then). West Indies are now at the ground, and presumably hustling to get ready. Although they won’t be able to have a net, as those are being taken down by the groundstaff. At this stage, we’ve not lost any overs – but, again, that may be weather dependent over the course of the afternoon
12.38pm: Ravi Rampaul (West Indies assistant coach) has been sighted at The Oval! And it’s still not raining! More as we get it…
“Match delayed due to non arrival of the visitors – has that ever happened before (apart from every weekend in club cricket)??” It’s a new one on me, Dezz. Even Sikandar Raza managed to make it on time for the PSL final
12.35pm: To reiterate, we should have had the toss – it looks just about dry enough, even though the covers are on – but we are missing an XI. Sky’s cameras have just picked out an empty away dressing room, with England’s players going about their warm-ups in the middle. If the visitors are literally sat on a bus the other side of the Thames, we could be here for some time (likely while it rains)
Here’s Brooksy: “WI stuck in traffic north of the river – did the bus driver take them to Lords by mistake?! lol”
Colonel Mustard: “‘heavy traffic north of the river’ – typical of south London to blame north London for the hold up.”
12.28pm: The start has been officially delayed – but it’s not for the reason you think. Apparently West Indies haven’t made it to the ground yet. Here’s what the update from the ECB says: “Due to a delayed arrival of one of the playing teams, who are stuck in heavy traffic north of the river, the scheduled start of play will be delayed.
“Once all members of the playing teams arrive, the match officials will coordinate updated timings and discuss any impact on the schedule of play.
“We will update spectators with the schedule of play as soon as we are able to.”
12.21pm: The covers are coming on at The Oval, says Matt, with an air of grim inevitability. He adds: “I don’t think it’s actually raining right now. England are still netting. But sounds like a big band incoming.” And I don’t think he means the kind featuring Benny Goodman. After weeks and weeks of dry weather, the English summer has arrived
12.10pm: Matt Roller reports that is is “cold, blustery and overcast” dahn Kennington way, which might be as good as it gets. The Met Office rain radar this morning suggested we could get a clearish window around the start time, but then it’s due to close in – before potentially blowing through in time to finish a game later this evening. As ever, we look to Andrew Miller and his seaweed
12pm: Hello and welcome to today’s main event (unless you’re a particular fan of Phil Salt or Romario Shepherd). The series has been won by England, giving Harry Brook his first success as captain, but there are still World Cup qualification ranking points on the line – that’s assuming the weather in south London lets us play ball. It’s dry currently, but the forecast isn’t too pretty. Anyway, time for you to get a biscuit and a brew and settle in with our preview before the toss (fingers crossed) in half an hour’s time