Records tumble as Bopara crushes India

West Indies 125 all out (19.4 overs) England 128 for 0 (15.2 overs)

Ravi Bopara recorded England's best bowling figures in Twenty20 cricket before Alex Hales and Craig Kieswetter shared their side's highest partnership in the format in a crushing 10-wicket win over the West Indies.

Both teams were under-strength, with two young sides and three debutants apiece, but the tourists were dismissed with almost embarrassing ease by a ruthless England side led for the first time by Graeme Swann.

An early assault by Dwayne Smith and Johnson Charles aside, the West Indies fell woefully short with the bat, scraping together 125 all out as Bopara returned four for 10.

That took him past England's previous best figures - four for 22, shared by Jade Dernbach and Paul Collingwood - but there was more record-breaking left in the evening.

Hales and Kieswetter knocked off their target in short order, with 62no and 58no respectively, cruising past the 112-run stand shared by Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen against Pakistan last year as England finished on 128 without loss.

It was also England's first 10-wicket success in the shortest form of the game.

Hales, who made a duck on debut against India, eased his nerves by steering the first ball of the chase for four through point.

Opening partner Kieswetter took four from Fidel Edwards before a free hit allowed him to smash the ball into the stands for England's first six.

Hales then used Edwards' pace to pick up fours through mid-on and fine leg as England eased to 44 from five overs.

Kieswetter brought up the fifty by scooping Darren Sammy over his left shoulder for an audacious boundary, before Hales pulled Andre Russell for a maiden international six into the on-side.

It took Sammy seven overs to introduce spin, in the form of Devendra Bishoo, but his length was off and England milked seven danger-free runs.

At the halfway stage Kieswetter and Hales had moved the total along to 84, leaving just 42 needed in 10 overs.

By now the batsmen were simply competing to reach fifty first and Hales swept Bishoo for successive fours to win the race in 36 balls.

It took Kieswetter 41, with a towering six and a dashed single off the dismal Nkruma Bonner seeing him to the landmark.

With two needed for victory, Kieswetter lashed Smith to the cover boundary to end things in style. After such a one-sided affair, anything else would have been an anti-climax.

Swann's first day as an England captain had started on the back foot, with Smith threatening to tee his side up for a much bigger total.

After solid opening overs from Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn, Smith plundered 21 off the third, hammering Bresnan for two four and two sixes - the second a brutal swat over mid-wicket.

Opening partner Charles followed his lead, hitting Finn for three straight boundaries in four balls as the scored leapt from five after two overs to 42 from four.

Spin provided England with some much-needed control on a slow pitch as Swann and Samit Patel put a lid on the scoring.

They brought wickets too, Patel bowling the dangerous Smith for 33 and Swann dismissing new man Marlon Samuels with a sharp off-break.

Danza Hyatt broke the shackles by hoisting Swann for two sixes in his final over but Charles (36) soon gave Patel a second success.

From there it was a procession.

Bopara had bowled one over for a single when, with the score at 103 for three and five overs remaining, Swann bravely recalled him to the attack.

With Finn and Bresnan both having overs left it was a bold call, but one that paid off handsomely.

Bonner and Christopher Barnwell fell in successive balls, the latter to a fine one-handed catch by Kieswetter, as Bopara read conditions perfectly.

Dernbach showcased his selection of slower balls at the other end but was rewarded when he cranked it up to 90mph and yorked Derwin Christian.

Two run outs, one involving Ben Stokes and a second from Jos Buttler's direct hit, left the Windies nine down and Bopara needing one wicket to secure the record figures.

Sammy obliged with two balls left in the innings, holing out to Jonny Bairstow.

PA