Windies out to seal series

West Indies will try to defy off-field distractions of the past 48 hours and win the fourth Twenty20 International against England, starting at 4 p.m. today at Kensington Oval, to clinch a series win over the No.1 ranked side in the format and put a feather in their caps.

Rather than revelling in the celebration of strong performances in the preceding three matches and a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, which ends tomorrow, the Windies have been contending with reports of disharmony between their captain Kieron Pollard and emerging all-rounder Odean Smith.

It drew a bullish defence from head coach Phil Simmons and a strongly-worded rebuke in the form of a media release from Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerritt denying any rift between the two players and urging fans to focus on the good that has taken place so far in the series.

The good has been built on a strong showing from the typically shaky batting, which culminated in the Caribbean side’s third highest total in T20Is in the third T20I this past Wednesday, and this has pleased under-fire batting coach, Monty Desai.

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