Key events
England’s Jofra Archer has the ball in his hand. Let’s go!
The national anthems are played. Daren Sammy, the West Indies head coach and Saint Lucian after who this stadium is named, is singing his heart out. Good man.
A shame for Shandon King, who hit a century against England in the ODI series.
Team news
West Indies
Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hosein, Terrance Hinds.
Shai Hope in for King, Joseph in for Forde, Hetmyer for Rutherford. There are a few injuries that have come at a bad time for the West Indies.
England
Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Rehan Ahmed, Saqib Mahmood.
Rehan Ahmed comes in for his mentor Adil Rashid, England’s lead spinner who looks like he is being rested.
England win the toss and opt to bowl
Rovman Powell shakes his head in disbelief. England win another toss and will chase, which is what they always like to do.
Play will begin in 10 minutes.
The toss will take place at 8.30pm GMT. So play to commence shortly after that.
Looks like the covers are coming off. Hurrah!
Liam Livingstone was talking earlier today about this pitch having more pace and bounce than the one in Barbados, so it should be a lively game when things get underway.
It is raining in St Lucia, which means the 8.15pm GMT start is looking increasingly unlikely.
Topley to fly home to England after injury
Reece Topley has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 series through injury, and is to fly home from St Lucia.
Topley sustained an injury during the first T20. Here are some details of how from Cameron Ponsonby’s match report.
Topley, who has a long history of serious injuries, bowled one more ball, slipped and fell. As he lay on the ground in pain, the covers finally came on. After the restart, he bowled a single delivery that was struck for six and left the pitch immediately in clear discomfort. As he walked up the changing room stairs, he grabbed a nearby plastic chair and smashed it over the bannister in frustration.
The umpires are huddled and prodding their feet around a patch of the outfield literally one yard from the boundary. Not sure that is where the game is going to be won and lost, lads.
The covers are currently on the pitch, but that seems to be a pre-cautionary measure, rather than there being rain in the air.
The start has been delayed to 8.15pm GMT at the Daren Sammy Stadium due to a wet outfield. We will have the toss imminently.
Earlier today, Glen Maxwell did Glen Maxwell things for Australia against Pakistan.
Wednesday marked two years since England’s men became world T20 champions.
Preamble
Hello world! A rare over-by-over report for me tonight (be kind) as England look to win this five-match T20 series at the earliest available opportunity. That would be a welcome return to form for Jos Buttler and co after the ODI series defeat here in the West Indies.
Buttler spoke last week about the threat of losing the England captaincy after the T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India and so a strong performance here is absolutely imperative. England will be going all out for a whitewash T20 series win, especially after the ODI failure.
After the feel-good match-winning performances in Barbados of Phil Salt and Jacob Bethall – two England players that were raised on the island – we turn now to St Lucia for the third T2o. Based upon the below video, it looks absolutely awful there right now. Both the fourth and fifth T20s of this series will also be played here.
Play starts at 8pm GMT, or 3pm if you are lucky enough to be in St Lucia.
