Thomas fifer keeps England to 113

Oshane Thomas's maiden fifer helped Windies skittle England for a sub-par 113 in the fifth and final ODI at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St. Lucia on Saturday (March 2), much in contrast to the fourth ODI where they had amassed 418.

Windies pacers rattled England with short balls after Jason Holder put the opposition in to bat in bowling-friendly conditions in the series decider. Nearly all of England's batsmen got starts, but the Windies pacers kept the visitors in check by striking at regular intervals to prevent any partnerships from flourishing on Saturday (March 2). The platform was laid by the early strikes of Sheldon Cottrell and Holder, before Carlos Brathwaite piled on more damage in his miserly spell of 2 for 17 in eight overs, and Thomas eventually ran through the tail with England losing their last-five for the addition of just two runs.

Cottrell temped Jonny Bairtstow into a drive as he followed up his short delivery with a fuller length one. The English opener took the bait but the ball seamed in a tad and took the inside edge to knock down his leg-stump. England had barely recovered, and Joe Root barely settled in, before Holder got rid of the new batsman with a short ball. The extra bounce in the pitch did him in as Root attempted an uppercut only to see Cottrell pouch a dolly at third man.

Brathwaite's spell next suffocated the life out of England's innings. The Windies T20I captain sent down his eight overs on the trot in the single spell, giving away just 17 runs but crucially, breaking two partnerships that were threatening to revive England.

After the two early setbacks, a brief 39-run partnership ensued between Alex Hales and his skipper, Eoin Morgan. Hales picked up four boundaries in quick succession to push England past the 50-run mark, but Brathwaite had his revenge as he banged one short and induced an outside off his bat that was caught behind easily. Likewise, when Ben Stokes seemed to be slowly settling in - having picked up a couple of authoritative boundaries off Thomas to get England a move on - Brathwaite cramped him for room with a short ball that rose sharply and brushed his gloves on the way to the keeper.

England were staring down the barrel at 88 for 5, and in the meanwhile, Thomas had bounced out the centurion from the previous game, Morgan, on 18 for his first wicket of the day. Holder, though, decided against bowling-out Brathwaite and brought Thomas back on in the 25th over, who validated the move almost immediately by running through the England lower order to wash away all hopes of a late fightback.

Thomas struck on the fifth delivery to induce an edge off Moeen Ali for the keeper, before Wokaes tamely pulled a short one to midwicket in the following over. One ball later, Buttler took his eyes off the pull shot and top-edged to Cottrell in the deep.

Bowling from the other end, Holder ensured there was no room for England tail to claw their way back as he sent Rashid packing off the final ball of the maiden. Thomas fired in a yorker next at Tom Curran right in the blockhole, that rattled his stumps and wrapped up England on a meagre 113 on the first ball of the 29th over, finishing with 5 for 21 in just 5.1 overs.

Brief scores: England 113 in 28.1 overs (Alex Hales 23, Jos Buttler 23; Oshane Thomas 5-21, Carlos Brathwaite 2-17, Jason Holder 2-28) vs Windies.