“It doesn’t make much sense,” says Cook, chewing over the result, “to play Overton when he can’t bowl. Pepper is a better batter and a better fielder when Overton can’t bowl.”

A mystery indeed. Maybe we will find out tomorrow in the final match of series, which rolls along at 8pm GMT. We suspect there will be at least one change after Liam Livingstone hurt his knee in the field taking that spectacular catch – what an unlucky run of injuries he has had.

And so, with West Indies breathing life into the series with that spectacular chase, I will say goodnight. We’ll be back tomorrow in time for the toss. Thanks for your company – bye!

Powell: “It has been a series where if you win the toss, you seem to win the game. But the guys put in a good performance today. We decided that maybe five bowlers isn’t our best suit. Alzarri Joseph is very important for us, we just need the other bowlers to keep getting close to his standards. To be honest we don’t have a lot of bowlers, it is an opportunity for bowlers in the Caribbean to keep putting in good performances. It’s been tough for the bowling group this series but they are trying. There’s still a lot to play for tomorrow.”

Jos Buttler: “Wrist spinners are like gold dust, I thought Rehan was very brave today , got us back in the game, a young guy full of confidence.”

“What a game of cricket,” says Cook. “Great entertainment, great ball-striking. They looked at one stage as if they were going to cruise it, a slight wobble, but that total took some chasing.”

“I completely agree with Butch,” agrees Jason Roy, “that Shai Hope should be in that side, amazing to watch, a calm head amongst the ball strikers.”

They agreed that England did well to keep their heads, and that the wicket was a belter.

18th over: West Indies 204-5 (Rutherford 16, Chase 2) Chase fires Curran into the sky – someone’s surely? but no – the ball falls slap in the middle of four approaching fielders. West Indies have tensed up, Buttler cleverly places his fielders, West Indies need 15 runs off 12 balls.

17th over: West Indies 198-5 (Rutherford 14, Chase 1) Turner gets a tricky casting call. But he does well, dismissing Powell and leaking only three runs. West Indies’ target inches once more above a run-a-ball, with two new batters in. West Indies need 21 runs from 18 balls.

16th over: West Indies 195-4 (Rutherford 11, Powell 38) Saqib Mahmood with his final over. West Indies content to knock him for the odd single. Excellent from Mahmood, who finishes with 0-24 and a Caribbean trip to remember. West Indies need 24 runs from 24 balls.

15th over: West Indies 191-4 (Rutherford 10, Powell 36) Mousley whistles through with his usual efficiency, West Indies try nothing fancy but dab him for a single a ball. West Indies need 28 runs from 30 balls.

14th over: West Indies 185-4 (Rutherford 7, Powell 33) Rutherford picks up SIX immediately but by the skin of his teeth, the ball flying mostly into the stratosphere but finding the length to drop just inside the rope. But the effort involved has hurt Rutherford too – and he’s on his back, legs being stretched by the physio. He recovers to jog a single and Powell polishes off the over with a monstrous SIX over deep mdwicket West Indies need 34 runs from 36 balls.

13th over: West Indies 172-3 (Hetmyer 7, Powell 27 ) Do West Indies just try and survive Saqib Mahmood? They’ve probably got enough runs in the bag with 58 needed off 48. They’re duly watchful – three singles, a dot, a wide, a dot, another wide and then Powell polishes off the over with a come-to-bed SIX over cover.

12th over: West Indies 161-3 (Hetmyer 5, Powell 20 ) Powell, in hat pulled down low over his brow, bingoes an inviting ball from Rehan over long on for SIX. Four is dinked to fine leg. Finishes with a dot but still 14 from it.

11th over: West Indies 147-3 (Hetmyer 4, Powell 7 ) With the mood of the game suddenly changed, Buttler brings on Turner who had a tricky first two overs. Powell zings him immediately through the covers for four. A careless bit of fielding by Overton leaks two. Just the one boundary – goes for nine.

10th over: West Indies 138-3 (Hetmyer 1, Powell 1) Well that was a party-pooper of an over.

8th over: West Indies 113-0 (Lewis 47, Hope 53) Livingstone comes on and takes a pounding. Starts with five wides, then Lewis slams SIX, FOUR, SIX – the final one, with barely a flick of the wrist, out into the night. Then a wide, before Lewis finishes with a third and final SIX – a one-handed biff that just clears Bethell hovering near the midwicket boundary. Tasty!

6th over: West Indies 69-0 (Lewis 21, Hope 41) Off the field some kind of crazy acrobatics, on the field Hope smashes Mousley’s first ball for SIX! An appeal for a stumping against Lewis – not out says the umpire, but Salt is convinced. They go through it frame for frame but Lewis’s boot is jsut quick enough to get down. He retorts by thunder-clapping Mousley’s next ball for SIX.

5th over: West Indies 56-0 (Lewis 15, Hope 34) Buttler trusts Curran to stop the flow. A well run two, is followed by a glorious off drive that just out-runs the fielder. A wide. A full-throated dive by Mousley on the boundary saves a couple. Twelve from it.

4th over: West Indies 44-0 (Lewis 11, Hope 27) Mahmood retorts straight away by hitting Lewis high on the thigh/into the bread basket. Saqib, thick black towelling wristband on his left forearm, chats to Jofra ARcher on the boundary as Lewis is attended to. But what is this? Hope picks up four leg byes and then four more, struck with feeling over backward point. Then four more from a bottom out-fancy table-tennis dab which sings away to the rope. Game on?

3rd over: West Indies 30-0 (Lewis 11, Hope 18) Lewis picks up Turner at hip level on the legside and swings for a meaty six. IS that the jump-leads this innings needs? Perhaps! Hope joins in with four screamed through the covers for four and an inside edge that squeezes past the stumps and down to the rope. Followed by SIX swung mightily over long on and four whipped up into the off side. That’s the most expensive over England have had during the power play this series – 25 from it.

2nd over: West Indies 5-0 (Lewis 4, Hope 0) Saqib Mahmood at the other end – who has been such a joy to watch this white-ball series. While both dog and human snooze next to me on the sofa, Hope is bamboozled. We are told that the West Indies top five have all averaged under 12 this series – and as if to prove a point Hope swings wildly and misses. An immaculate maiden from Mahmood.

That was a pretty huge performance by England after losing the toss. A tasty pitch but some huge hitting.

“What we do know now is that West Indies didn’t bowl particularly well but there is very little margin for error for the bowlers.” says Alastair Cook “West Indies are so reliant on the spinners to do the holding role and we saw today how easy it was to hit through the line of it.”

“Bethell in particular I though was great – his ability to clear the ropes, he’s got the ability – its not just destructive power but intelligent power.”

“He was very smart with his innings,” agrees Jason Roy. “For a twenty year old to do that is very impressive.”

19th over: England 206-4 ( Bethell 59, Curran 16) Joseph’s first ball is a low full toss yee-hahed for six by Curran – he and Bethell are very similar looking at the crease – slight but full of flamboyance. Joseph polishes things off with a couple of yorkers.

18th over: England 194-4 ( Bethell 59, Curran 6) Left-armer McCoy returns in his spray-on trousers. He varies his pace cleverly and third-ball wide apart it is a miserly over until the final ball which Bethell sprays high and long for six over midwicket.

16th over: England 164-4 ( Bethell 32, Curran 4) Joseph returns. Bethell angles him, postcard through the letterbox, between the slips. But that’s the only boundary of the over – a relatively respectable nine from it.

14th over: England 142-3 ( Bethell 16, Livingstone 2) Chase, with a skip and a spring. A first four for the baby-faced Bethell who sends him through third man, and a second with the most delicate of flicks through fine leg.

13th over: England 131-3 ( Bethell 6, Livingstone 1) Can West Indies haul this back?

12th over: England 123-2 ( Buttler 32, Bethell 5) The shadows are now stretching horizontally over the pitch as the clock moves to five pm St Lucian time. Bethell sweeps but only behind his head, but the next ball Buttler spatulates for six then scoops the next for four.

11th over: England 110-2 ( Buttler 20, Bethell 4) Motie returns, and actually manages to maintain composed control over England. Just five from the over as the horns blare at the ground.

10th over: England 105-2 ( Buttler 18, Bethell 2) Bethell the next man in – one of the coming men and getting rave reviews for his fielding as well as his other skills.

9th over: England 101-1 (Salt 55, Buttler 16) Hosein again, with his Mr Whippy hair. Nearly gets his man as Salt flays and McCoy at long off dives with purpose, but not quite with the ball. Time for a seasoning of Buttler: he leans back deeply and drives Hosein up and over extra cover for four, and next ball punches him brutally over long-on for six. West Indies looking a bit forlorn here.

7th over: England 77-1 (Salt 45, Buttler 2 ) Carnage! Time for Motie to get the treatment. The ball belted way over long on and long off for two huge sixes – Salt on the money, Buttler content to hand him the glory.

I’ve just noticed that my email address is wrong on the link above. Will change but I’m on tanya.aldred.freelance@theguardian.com if you have something to say.

6th over: England 63-1 (Salt 32, Buttler 1 ) Hosein is switched back into action, and things go more calmly than the first over until the penultimat ball – which Salt griddle-pans for six over long off.

4th over: England 43-0 (Salt 23, Jacks 16) McCoy has switched ends, but still finds himself dispatched. Jacks eyes up a wide one and lofts him over extra-cover like a man who knows he is going to get extra gravy. England continue to gather runs with ease.

3rd over: England 33-0 (Salt 21, Jacks 8) McCoy is removed for now and replaced by Hosein – but Salt is in hungry mood and unfortunately Hosein isn’t yet on point. His second ball is a warm and welcoming pie which Salt sends through the covers for four, the next is dragged down and Salt tucks in with six. Jacks finishes the over by dancing down and pinging another six – to make it 18 from the over.

2nd over: England 15-0 (Salt 10, Jacks 1) The poker-faced Joseph at the other end, aiming very straight and leaking just three runs – one of them from a terrible bit of lackadaisical fielding. Not huge numbers of spectators in yet on a perfect November afternoon.

1st over: England 12-0 (Salt 8, Jacks 0) Obed McCoy, built like a mighty mountain, with the first over. Salt rockets his second ball through midwicket for four. An early fielding mishap as Rutherford, in a moment of madness, flings a dead ball above the wicket-keeper and it rolls merrily over the rope for four overthrows. Another delivery gets blasted straight back into the blue, blue, St Lucian sky for four more. In betweeen all that, McCoy beats Salt twice.

The players are out – let’s see what West Indies can do in the power play.

If you spot Jos Buttler, Jamie Overton and Marcus Trescothick in black armbands and wonder why, it is in memory of long-time Somerset supporter and fundraiser Mary Elworthy, who died yesterday aged 90. RIP Mary.

West Indies have one obvious failure to fix from the last match, where they crucially dropped Liam Livingstone three times. As Rovman Powell put it bluntly afterwards: “Guys have to take more catches.”

England, footloose and fancy free ( even if they didn’t exactly cruise past West Indies’ 145) may take the opportunity to make a few team tweaks.

And an interview with media-shy outgoing Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley:

While we wait, this was the Guardian’s editorial eye on the future of cricket:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/15/the-guardian-view-on-testing-times-crickets-traditions-are-being-clean-bowled-by-cash