England overwhelm West Indies

Southampton (PTI): Joe Root hit his second century of the tournament after England pace battery tormented the West Indies batsmen to set up a thumping eight-wicket win in their World Cup match here Friday.

West Indies got a taste of their own medicine -- they had troubled the Pakistanis with bouncers in their only win thus far -- as the England pace battery unleashed fiery spells to bundle them out for 212 in 44.4 overs.

England overhauled the target with remarkable ease, completing the win in 33.1 overs as Root remained unbeaten on 100, which came off 94 balls. In his 16th ODI hundred, Root found the boundary rope 11 times.

West Indies owed their total to Nicholas Pooran (63), who chose the biggest stage to strike his maiden ODI fifty, and Shimron Hetmyer's (39) sensible batting on a pitch which had no demons. They added 89 runs for the fourth wicket but West Indies' big guns failed to fire.

Extravagance, when the situation demanded patience, resulted in Chris Gayle (36) and Andre Russell (21) throwing their wickets away. The T20 style batting in the longer format cost their side dear.

Young pacer Archer (3/30) had the West Indies batsmen dancing on the pitch, troubling them with the steep bounce. Archer, Mark Wood (3/18), Chris Woakes (1/16) and Liam Plunkket (1/30) delivered the goods for the home favourites after home skipper Eoin Morgan opted to field.

For defending 212, West Indies needed early wickets but openers Root and Jonny Bairstow (45) punctured all their hopes with a commanding 91-run stand.

It seemed the two batsmen were competing to hit most the elegant shots one can hit. Their cover and straight drives were like unrestrained stream of a river. Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell did ask a few tough questions to the English duo but Root and Bairstow were up for the task.

Bairstow departed when his square cut off Shannon Gabriel landed straight into the big hands of Carlos Brathwaite. Root and Woakes (40), promoted to number three, then added 104 runs for the second wicket to push the side to the doorstep of a comfortable win. The result catapulted England (6) to the second spot in the table behind New Zealand (7).

Earlier, the ball was hurrying on to the batsmen and whether it was a Shai Hope (11) or the big-hitting Gayle, the Caribbeans found the going tough as timing the ball was a challenge.

They had already lost Evin Lewis (0), bowled by Woakes off a yorker. Gayle, out of frustration, pulled one from Woakes, just managed an edge but escaped as Wood grassed a sitter.

SCOREBOARD

West Indies

C Gayle c Bairstow b Plunkett 36

E Lewis b Woakes 2

S Hope lbw b Wood 11

N Pooran c Buttler b Archer 63

S Hetmyer c & b Root 39

J Holder c & b Root 9

A Russell c Woakes b Wood 21

C Brathwaite c Buttler b Archer 14

S Cottrell lbw b Archer 0

O Thomas not out 0

S Gabriel b Wood 0

Extras: (lb 5, w 12) 17

Total: (All out, 44.4 Overs) 212

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-54, 3-55, 4-144, 5-156, 6-188, 7-202, 8-202, 9-211, 10-212

Bowling: C Woakes 5-2-16-1, J Archer 9-1-30-3, L Plunkett 5-0-30-1, M Wood 6.4-0-18-3, B Stokes 4-0-25-0, A Rashid 10-0-61-0, J Root 5-0-27-2

England

J Bairstow c Brathwaite b Gabriel 45

J Root not out 100

C Woakes c sub (FA Allen) b Gabriel 40

B Stokes not out 10

Extras: (lb 2, nb 1, w 15) 18

Total: (For 2wkts, 33.1 Overs) 213

Yet to bat: J Roy, E Morgan (c), J Buttler, L Plunkett, J Archer, A Rashid, M Wood

Fall of wickets: 1-95, 2-199

Bowling: S Cottrell 3-0-17-0, O Thomas 6-0-43-0, S Gabriel 7-0-49-2, A Russell 2-0-14-0, J Holder 5.1-0-31-0, C Brathwaite 5-0-35-0, C Gayle 5-0-22-0.