England's woes continue as West Indies pull off record run chase in Antigua

The England Men's ODI reset did not get off to the best of starts as West Indies pulled off a victory by a margin of four wickets. Their successful chase of England's 325 was a record for ODI cricket in the Caribbean and was achieved courtesy of the 16th ODI century for the captain Shai Hope.

The Sir Vivian Richards stadium in Antigua was the setting for the series opener and proceedings played out in front of the West Indies great as he watched on from the stands.

As they did against Ireland in September, Will Jacks and Phil Salt got England off to a fast start by putting on 77 for the first wicket. Both then departed in consecutive overs as England finished the Powerplay on 78/2.

Zak Crawley and Harry Brook then put on 71 for the fourth wicket as England dealt with a two-paced pitch reasonably well. Brook top scored with 71 from 72 balls - an innings which included seven fours and two sixes - before being caught at mid-off by Alzarri Joseph.

Late-order hitting from Sam Curran (38) and Brydon Carse (28) resulted in an eighth-wicket partnership of 66 from 38 balls to help England to a total of 325 from 50 overs. The tenth wicket, that of Gus Atkinson, was the last to fall from the final ball of the innings.

West Indies had problems in the field with some missed opportunities from dropped catches and misfields from uneven bounce. Tannic Cariah's figures of 1-76 would have been a lot better but for those missed chances.

England struggled in the defence of their total. Curran in particular, who had had his struggles at the World Cup, was wayward with length and line and this allowed West Indies to build a solid platform with a fast start.

The West Indies openers, Alick Athanaze and Brandon King put on 117 for the first wicket - Athanaze falling LBW to the impressive Rehan Ahmed. The latter claimed 2-40 and was by far England's most economical bowler on the day.

Curran, by contrast, conceded the most runs by an England bowler in an ODI, 0-98 from 9.5 overs.

West Indies will be delighted by the result achieved. Given the number of problems in selection and the fact that they had failed, earlier in the year, to qualify for the World Cup; it is impressive how well this young group performed. For England, it extends their difficult spell in ODI cricket and confirms how much work still needs to be done in this format following the World Cup.