Forde makes his T20I debut as the West Indies opt to bowl

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Win the toss and opt to bowl against England, West Indies

In the penultimate match of their five-match Twenty20 International series at Tarouba, the West Indies won the toss and elected to bowl first against England.

On the eve of this match, the West Indies had already made two changes to their squad for the remainder of the series: Alzarri Joseph rested ahead of their tour of Australia next month, with Oshane Thomas joining the squad, and Shimron Hetmyer was dropped after missing the third game due to scores of 1 and 2 in the first two fixtures.

But after making an impression in his international debut in the third ODI against England on December 9, Matthew Forde was selected for his first T20I in the sole change made by the West Indies.

With the West Indies leading the series 2-1, England had to win, thus they made two changes to their starting lineup. Gus Atkinson and Tymal Mills were replaced in the side by Chris Woakes and Rehan Ahmed, who had woken up in the Caribbean to learn he had been selected by Punjab Kings in the IPL auction.

Phil Salt was expected to replace Jos Buttler in the wicketkeeping role after his innings of unbeaten 109 off just 56 balls had enabled England to win the last match.

The captain of England, Buttler, stated at the toss that he too would have preferred to chase. With the covers remaining on the field until just before the toss, play was scheduled to start under muggy conditions.

One Brandon King, two Kyle Mayers, three Shai Hope, four Nicholas Pooran (wk), and five Rovman Powell (capt), West Indies 6 Rutherford, Sherfane 7 Jason Holder, 8 Andre Russell, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Akeal Hosein, and 11 Matthew Forde

England’s starting lineup is Jos Buttler (captain), Phil Salt (wk), Will Jacks, Liam Livingston, and 5 Harry Brook 6 Moeen Ali 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Rehan Ahmed, and 11 Reece Topley

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