Daniel Wales reports from the Riverside Cricket Ground in Chester-le-Street, as England defeat the West Indies in the first of a three match T20 series.
00:00On Friday gone, England's T20 side, under the captaincy of Harry Brook, gained what was ultimately a comprehensive victory over the West Indies in Chesley Street.
00:16Throughout England, international cricket always draws in big crowds.
00:20And certainly, here in Chesley Street, the home of Durham County Cricket Club, there was no exception to that rule.
00:26England were playing host to the West Indies in the first match of an international T20 series, with Captain Harry Brook looking to continue on the form shown in the one-day series, which England had whitewashed.
00:38The crowds were certainly up for it here in Durham, and looking forward to an exciting evening.
00:44Preparations for England had begun the previous day, as several of the team were in the batting net, getting ready for the West Indian bowling attack.
00:53The conditions were ideal for a good day of training.
00:58And amongst those involved was England's test captain, Ben Stokes.
01:02The Durham man was not to be involved in the T20 series against the West Indies, although his Durham team-mate Brydon Kars was certainly looking forward to the fixture at their home ground.
01:12Yeah, look, obviously, you know, always coming back and playing at Durham is pretty special.
01:18You know, over the last couple of years, a couple of games, yeah, for England with the likes of Stokes and Potts and Mark Wood.
01:24And yeah, always coming back here, seeing familiar faces is always a nice touch.
01:31Yeah, look, it's great.
01:33Like I said, you know, even coming into the ground today, you know, seeing everyone that works here and a couple of the local fans in here today.
01:41It really does feel like home and it has done now for a period of time.
01:44I've actually got my dad over here at the moment as well.
01:48So he's from South Africa, well, he's flown over from South Africa.
01:51So he's been to a couple of the one day games.
01:53So for him to be here tomorrow night, you know, watching me play out here is pretty exciting.
02:00From the local cricket club, Burnmore, I'm sure there'll be a number of them in tomorrow night, enjoying the evening.
02:06Match day soon arrived and the crowds began to roll into the Riverside cricket ground.
02:12For England, who had won the toss and elected to bat, it was their former captain, Joss Butler, who was the pick of their batting line-up.
02:21He scored 96 runs, including several boundaries, before being trapped.
02:26LBW, just four short of what would have been an impressive century.
02:31Jamie Smith and Jacob Bethel also popped up with good cameo knocks.
02:37And although the West Indies managed to stem the flow in the later overs, remain shepherd with two wickets.
02:43England were on course for victory.
02:45The visitors had looked threatening at times during the middle of their innings,
02:49but four wickets from Liam Dawson was ultimately their undoing on the night.
02:55Along with good fielding in the deep from England that saw them over the line.
03:01Following the conclusion, England's captain Harry Brook was certainly full of praise for the two key men,
03:07Joss Butler and Liam Dawson.
03:10His performance tonight was unbelievable, eye-catching.
03:14And yeah, he's definitely in the top three, if not number one in the world, in my opinion.
03:20The way that Smudge and Joss both batted in that period after losing an early wicket as well.
03:26They went out there, they played with the same aggression they would have done if we were non-down.
03:32So I think the power play really set us up beautifully.
03:34And I think that helps with the batting line-up we've got with the depth in the batting we have.
03:39Yeah, he's been in and out of the side for years.
03:42I personally think he's been knocking on the door for so many years to try and solidify that spot.
03:48And then obviously the performance we saw tonight was just awesome.
03:51Him and Rash working in tandem from both ends is going to be good to watch in the coming years.
03:57He's obviously extremely experienced.
03:59I think he can help younger lads along the way as well with that experience.
04:03The likes of Beth and Jack see both finger spinners as well.
04:07So to have him around, have him just in the inner circle when them two are bowling as well
04:12is going to help us a long way in these games.
04:15Well, the crowds here in the North East certainly got what they were wishing for as England won by 21 runs.
04:22Joss Butler was certainly the standout of England's batsmen, hitting 96 runs on England's way to victory.
04:28With Liam Dawson picking up four wickets whilst England were in the fields.
04:33A great night for everyone in the North East here in Durham.
04:36With England now going to Bristol to take on the West Indies in the next match of the series.
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