England got their tour of West Indies off to a perfect start as they won by 45 runs in the opening ODI. Captain Eoin Morgan led from the front, scoring his 10th ODI century as England set the hosts a target of 297.
But the total was too much for the West Indies to chase down, Liam Plunkett picking up the final wicket with 116 deliveries to spare, in an impressive all-round England performance.
Morgan struck a superb century, mixing his classical wristy shots to the boundary with more powerful shots straight down the ground as England posted 296-6 in the first innings at Antigua. It was a fine 107 for Morgan, coming off just 112 runs, and his second century in the past three matches. He has 280 ODI runs at an average of 70 since the turn of the year.
The skipper came to the crease with the tourists in a precarious position at 29-2 and steadied the ship before taking the attack to the West Indies bowlers. Once he got the measure of the tricky North Sound track, he picked off each and every one of the West Indies bowling attack, striking 11 fours and two sixes.
The captain's innings was crucial after England's restrained opening. A wet outfield and short bursts of rain had put the start time back thirty minutes in Antigua, and England struggled to get an early foothold in the game.
A superb opening spell from West Indies paceman Shannon Gabriel accounted for both Jason Roy and Joe Root within the opening eight overs. Roy started aggressively, hitting consecutive boundaries off captain Jason Holder, but Gabriel soon slowed him down, trapping the Surrey batsman plumb in front for 13.
That brought new Test captain Root to the crease but it wasn’t to be his day, Gabriel’s ferocious spell continuing as he sent down a fast delivery that seamed and kept low to crash into the middle stump. With Root departing for just four runs, it was down to Sam Billings and Morgan to start the rebuilding job.
Billings soon got into his stride, reverse-sweeping consecutive fours off Ashley Nurse as he took the counter-attack to the West Indies bowlers. The opener looked assured as he reached his second ODI fifty from just 53 balls on a tacky pitch, but faced just two more deliveries before hitting straight towards Carlos Brathwaite at midwicket, who made no mistake with the catch. He departed for an eye-catching 52.
While Morgan continued to rack up the runs, new batsman Jos Buttler didn’t hang around long enough to make his mark. He hit 14 off 19 balls before Nurse drew him into an edge and Jonathan Carter took a sharp, low catch at slip.
Ben Stokes made an uncharacteristic workman-like start with a string of ones and twos, before eventually hitting his first boundary - a magnificent maximum straight back down the ground - from his 44th ball. He followed up with another two sixes before being caught by Jason Holder at long-on for 55.
His replacement Moeen Ali struck a fluid 31 from just 25 balls but the afternoon belonged to captain Morgan. The centurion was eventually run out with two balls to go, but the damage had already been done.
West Indies started their reply astutely, the opening pair of Lewis and Brathwaite not interested in playing anything dangerous. But as they struggled to hit boundaries, going more than six overs without finding the rope at one point, the pressure told.
Lewis was the first to depart. Cramped for space by a short, slower Chris Woakes delivery, he attempted to go big over square, but failed to get the distance, picking out Billings in the deep.
Kieron Powell followed six balls later, Liam Plunkett charging in and outfoxing him with a quicker one. Before Woakes picked up his second of the match as Brathwaite toe-ended the ball up for Rashid to take a simple catch.
Shai Hope and Jason Mohammad offered a tentative rebuilding, putting on 69 runs together over almost 14 overs prior to Hope slicing Rashid to the diving Steven Finn.
Mohammed found assistance in Jonathon Carter though, both making half-centuries - a first for Mohammed in ODI cricket - as they fought back. The counter attack started to cause concerns as West Indies moved within sight of reducing the target to just double figures. But Plunkett made the breakthrough with a double blow, Carter going to an outstanding Roy catch and then soon joined by captain Holder after edging behind.
Mohammed’s fine innings came to an end following some fancy footwork by Finn. Knocking the ball back towards the bowler, Finn side-footed it perfectly at the stumps, wheeling away in celebration. And it wasn’t long before the England players were cheering again, as Woakes dismissed the dangerous Carlos Brathwaite for a mere 12 runs.
With more than 50 runs still needed and only two wickets left at that point, it was just about England keeping their cool.
They were made to wait a couple of overs to wrap up the match, but Woakes and Plunkett were on hand again to dislodge the final two and claim a great opening win for England.