England have lost to the West Indies by 21 runs in their one-off Twenty20 match at Chester-le-Street this evening.
The hosts won the toss and opted to bowl first, but that proved to be a mistake as Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis blasted themselves to a quickfire 77-run opening partnership.
Gayle was eventually dismissed for 40 when he was run out by Jason Roy, but England were unable to prevent Lewis (51) from reaching his half-century before he was caught by Joe Root off the bowling of Liam Plunkett.
The same duo also combined to dispatch of Marlon Samuels (10) in the same over before Plunkett claimed his third wicket of the night by dismissing Kieron Pollard.
Double-figure contributions from Rovman Powell and Ashley Nurse at quicker than a run-a-ball helped the tourists eventually finish on 176-9, setting England a target of 177 to win.
The hosts' chase got off to the worst possible start when Roy edged to Lewis on the very first delivery, but Alex Hales (43) and Root (17) steadied the ship.
Both were dismissed in quick succession, though, and captain Eoin Morgan was not far behind having made just two runs from seven deliveries.
There was resistance from Jos Buttler (30), Jonny Bairstow (27) and Plunkett (18), but the collapse of the tail around them left England with little chance and they were eventually bowled out for 155 in the final over.
