SOUTHAMPTON: Jonny Bairstow hit an unbeaten century to lead England to a thumping nine-wicket victory over the West Indies in Southampton on Friday, in a low-key fifth and final one-day international overshadowed by the Ben Stokes scandal.

Bairstow struck 141 not out as the hosts sealed the win with 12 overs to spare to complete a 4-0 series victory.

The tourists, seeking to end a long sequence of defeats against England, posted 288 for six despite becoming bogged down after a thrilling Chris Gayle cameo, but it never looked enough under the floodlights in the day-night encounter.

Openers Jason Roy and Bairstow started the home side’s reply confidently, with Roy reaching his second consecutive half-century in the evening sunshine after his recall for the fourth match of the series, off 43 balls.

Bairstow brought up his own 50 as the England openers kept the scoreboard constantly ticking over, untroubled by either pace or spin until Roy (96 in 70 balls) was trapped lbw by Miguel Cummins.

But his dismissal did little to upset England’s rhythm. Joe Root batted smoothly while Bairstow steered a ball down to third man for a single to notch his second century of the series off 90 balls with 10 fours.

The home side cantered past the winning post as Root finished alongside Bairstow on 46 not out, scoring the winning runs with a six.

Earlier, Gayle (40) lit up the gloom at the Ageas Bowl following a delayed start with a breathtaking brief knock under heavy late-September skies, hitting 34 runs off just six balls, all delivered by Jake Ball, including four successive sixes.—AFP

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Scoreboard West Indies


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C. Gayle c Plunkett b Curran     40


K. Hope c & b Plunkett           33


S. Hope c Billings b Ball        72


M. Samuels st Buttler b Ali      32


J. Mohammed c Root b Rashid      25


S. Ambris not out                38


R. Powell b Plunkett             11


A Nurse not out                  31


Extras (w6)                       6


Total (6 wkts, 50 overs)        288


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Did not bat: A Joseph, J Taylor, M Cummins

Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Gayle), 2-86 (K Hope), 3-143 (Samuels), 4-195 (Mohammed), 5-221 (S Hope), 6-253 (Powell)

Bowling: Ball 10-1-94-1 (1w); Curran 10-1-62-1 (2w); Plunkett 10-0-54-2 (2w); Rashid 10-1-42-1 (1w); Ali 10-0-36-1

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England


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J. Roy lbw b Cummins             96


J. Bairstow not out             141


J. Root not out                  46


Extras (lb2, w9)                 11


Total (1 wkt, 48 overs)         294


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Did not bat: E Morgan (capt), J Buttler (wkt), S Billings, M Ali, T Curran, A Rashid, L Plunkett, J Ball

Fall of wickets 1-156 (Roy)

Bowling: J Taylor 8-0-52-0, Joseph 7-0-54-0, Cummins 8-0-70-1 (5w), Nurse 8-0-56-0, Samuels 4-0-41-0, Powell 3-0-19-0

Result: England won by nine wickets

Man-of-the-match: Jonny Bairstow (ENG)

Man-of-the-series: Moeen Ali (ENG)

Series: England win series 4-0

Toss: England

Umpires: Simon Fry (AUS), Michael Gough (ENG)

TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)

Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)

Previous Results

Sep 19: 1st ODI, Old Trafford (d/n): England won by seven wickets

Sep 21: 2nd ODI, Trent Bridge (d/n): No result, rain

Sep 24: 3rd ODI, Bristol: England won by 124 runs

Sep 27: 4th ODI, The Oval (d/n): England won by six runs (D/L method)

Note: d/n=day/night.—AFP