West Indies v England: Nasser Hussain says opening ODI win for the visitors is difficult to judge
Saturday 4 March 2017 00:04, UK
England's opening ODI win over the West Indies is a difficult one to judge, according to Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain, who feels they may have lost the game against sterner opposition.
The tourists won the first one-day international of the three-match series by 45 runs, with Eoin Morgan (107) scoring a well-paced century as they set the West Indies an ultimately insurmountable 297 to win.
But Hussain feels England were guilty of letting the game drift at times, a luxury they won't be allowed when faced with sterner tests this summer's ICC Champions Trophy.
"I thought England were smart with the bat, but they were allowed to be because it's the West Indies, and you know that they've never chased down a score over 300," said Hussain.
"It means that you know if you get a score of 280, 290, you're probably going to win the game.
"That's a slight problem for them in this series, working out whether the style and brand of cricket they're playing is good enough to win the Champions Trophy?
"In the middle overs of this match England were guilty of just drifting a little bit.
"They had the two spinners [Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid] bowling, but I don't think England ever look as good a side when they have spin bowling at both ends - in Test match cricket or white-ball cricket - I always feel they're better when they have a seamer at one end and a spinner at the other.
"They had the West Indies 180-4, but if that was India and Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni in that situation, I think England lose that game.
"If it's South Africa and Ab de Villiers and Faf du Plessis at the crease, I think England probably lose that game too.
"But because it's the West Indies, and you know because of their inexperience, they will collapse - and they did collapse - you're always confident you're going to win.
"They've played a good game of cricket, but is it good enough to beat the four sides ranked above them in the ICC world rankings?"
Live One-Day International Cricket
Watch the second ODI between the West Indies and England from 1pm on Sunday, Sky Sports 2.
