England were held up by the late arrival of the West Indies team bus at the Kia Oval, then charged to victory like a team determined to beat the traffic. Jamie Smith’s 25-ball half-century, his first in ODIs, led them to 100 for 1 in a reduced eight-over Powerplay, and they cruised to a DLS-adjusted target of 246 with 10.2 overs to spare.

It meant a perfect start to captaincy for Harry Brook, sweeping his first series in permanent charge three-nil to draw a line under England’s wretched white-ball results earlier this year. “It’s a hell of a lot of fun when you’re enjoying it with a lot of mates,” Brook said. “I think we’ve got such a good side. The depth in batting is amazing, and we have a lot of skilful bowlers as well.”

This was England’s first ODI series win since September 2023, and their first series clean-sweep since a three-nil win in the Netherlands which marked the end of Eoin Morgab’s tenure. The result also eases their concerns about automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup, and leaves West Indies looking nervously over their shoulders at tenth-ranked Bangladesh.

West Indies’ four-mile journey from their Chelsea hotel to Kennington took nearly two hours due to road closures and heavy congestion, and their delayed innings was further interrupted by rain. Sherfane Rutherford, returning from the IPL, hit 70 to hold their innings together but they were reeling at 154 for 7 when he fell to a sharp catch by Brook at mid-on.

It took a counter-attacking eighth-wicket partnership worth 91 off 68 balls between Gudakesh Motie and Alzarri Joseph to take West Indies to 251. Motie walked in at No. 8 after wickets off consecutive deliveries, but smeared Adil Rashid’s hat-trick ball over midwicket for six; he hit five fours and two further sixes on his way to his highest ODI score.

But Smith’s powerful innings made England’s target look puny: he cracked 10 fours and three sixes on his way to 64 off 28, dominating an opening stand of 93 in seven overs. Ben Duckett took on the baton with 58 off 46, Joe Root added a fluent 44 and Jos Buttler finished the rout in style, pulling the winning six after a lively, boundary-laden cameo.

England stuck with the side that snuck over the line in Cardiff and struck three early blows after choosing to bowl. Evin Lewis, returning from a niggle, pulled Brydon Carse to Smith at short midwicket; Brandon King sliced a drive to Jacob Bethell at point off Matthew Potts; and Shai Hope was bounced out by Saqib Mahmood for the second time in the series, caught at long leg.

Keacy Carty and Rutherford led the recovery, adding 62 for the fourth wicket as they enjoyed the value for shots afforded by Brook’s attacking fields. But their rhythm was thrown off by a 97-minute rain delay at the drinks break, after which Carty dragged a wide, 43mph legbreak from Rashid onto his off stump.

Rutherford’s excellent IPL season for Gujarat Titans ended in Saturday’s Eliminator, and his seventh 50-plus score in his first 11 ODI innings was a reminder of what West Indies had missed. He slotted seamlessly into the tempo of a one-day innings, scoring heavily both sides of the wicket, and punched sweetly through straight mid-on when Mahmood overpitched.

He looked like the last hope after Rashid had Justin Greaves caught at short midwicket and Roston Chase edging to slip, but Motie and Joseph made hay. Their stand highlighted the predictability of England’s plans to the lower order, with both batters camping on the back foot in anticipation of a short-ball barrage that duly arrived.

Motie was occasionally streaky, swiping hard over midwicket and mid-off, but Joseph’s hitting was pure and crisp: he swung Jacks back over his head and into the members’ pavilion, and launched Mahmood over deep midwicket. He made 41, his second-highest ODI score, before edging to slip; Potts then ended the innings by cleaning up Motie with a slower ball.

West Indies came out hunting early wickets, but Jayden Seales and the returning Shamar Joseph bowled wayward first spells: Smith whipped several early freebies off his pads then imposed himself on Seales with a flurry of pulls. He was dropped by Greaves off Motie’s first ball, then hit the next four for 4, 6, 4, 6; he was bowled by the sixth, but the damage was done.

“We’ve seen it in Test cricket, how good he is,” Brook said of Smith, who was promoted to open the batting for the first time in this series. “He broke the back of the game there, really… He’s not a slogger, is he? He’s playing proper shots, and putting their bad balls away and putting them under immense pressure.”

Duckett had twice top-edged Alzarri Joseph over long leg for six, and was then dropped by Rutherford in the same spot. He cut and swept Motie for three consecutive boundaries before slashing to cover off Chase, who then put Brook down early on off a disheartened Seales. Root’s dismissal was inconsequential, as Buttler’s 41 not out off 20 gave his successor a winning start.

Brief scores:
England 246 for 3 in 29.4 overs (Jamie Smith 64, Ben Duckett 58, Joe Root 44,Harry Brook 26*, Josh Buttler 41*; Roston Chase 1-19) beat West Indies 251 for 9 in 40 overs  (Keacy Carty 29, Sherfane Rutherford 70, Gudakesh Motie 63, Alzarri Joseph 41; Saqib Mahmood 2-48, Brydon Carse 2-57, Matthew Potts 2-51, Adil Rashid 3-40) by seven wickets (via DLS method)

[Cricinfo]