Mumbai, February 11 Sherfane Rutherford (76 not out) led the way with a blistering half-century as the West Indies recovered well from a lackluster start to post a formidable 196/6 against England in their Group C match of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
Rutherford smashed seven sixes and two fours to score 76 not out off 42 balls, reviving the Caribbean side's innings, which had crawled to a modest 79/4 halfway through on a true batting wicket.
As many as 117 runs came in the final 10 overs as the left-handed Rutherford put on 51 runs for the fifth wicket with Rovman Powell (14), and added another 61 runs off just 32 balls for the sixth with former captain Jason Holder (33 off 17 balls; 1x4, 4x6).
While Rutherford was the top scorer, the Caribbean side also benefited from the contribution of Test captain Roston Chase (34) at No. 4 when they were struggling, and towards the end, Holder hit three sixes in an over from Sam Curran.
Holder used the long handle effectively and took some pressure off Rutherford, who was given a lifeline by Adil Rashid (2/16) in the 18th over of the innings.
To his credit, Rashid bounced back strongly after being hammered by Nepal in the previous game. He bowled four effective overs in separate spells, generating sharp turn that kept the batsmen guessing, and accounted for Chase with a wrong'un and Powell.
The West Indies had a poor start, slipping to 8/2 even as Jofra Archer (1/48) struggled for control in his first over.
Skipper Shai Hope smashed a six straight to Tom Banton at cover point off Archer and Sam Curran (1/36) had Brandon King caught by the sweeper cover in the next.
Chase tried to turn the fortunes for his side when he smashed three consecutive fours off Will Jacks in the fifth over and Shimron Hetmyer hit a six.
However, the West Indies' innings struggled for momentum throughout the first half.
Jamie Overton (2/33), brought into the side to extract bounce off the surface, outsmarted the in-form Hetmyer (23) with a few fuller deliveries followed by one slow and short ball.
Hetmyer looked hurried as the ball took the top edge and flew to the short fine-leg, where Curran completed an easy catch.
Before he fell, the left-handed No. 3 had hit a couple of sixes and fours each, including one against Curran's talked-about 'Moon Ball'.
