15th over: West Indies 130-5 (Rutherford 43, Holder 1) if Rashid could bowl every over, England would rinse this. He welcomes Holder to the crease with a beauty that turns past the edge, then two singles mean Rutherford retains strike as West Indies swing for home.

15th over: West Indies 128-4 (Rutherford 42, Powell 14) England needed that break and after it, Rashid returns, his first ball guided to third for one.

14th over: West Indies 127-4 (Rutherford 41, Powell 14) Dawson tries a wide one, so Rutherford cuts nicely for four then, after a wide and dot, waits for one and gently swings six back overt the bowler’s head. Big pressure for England now, the partnership 46 off 25, and does Brook get Overton and Rashid on now, then deal with the last two overs nearer the time? Dawson does well to get out of this one with just a wide and a single ceded, but it’s still 13 in total, and that is drinks.

13th over: West Indies 114-4 (Rutherford 30, Powell 14) Archer returns and Rutherford takes one, then Powell flows expertly over extra for four. A single follows, then one’s carved over third man and, on the fence, Rashid is there. He flings himself sideways and holds a majestic grab in mid-air, the catch of his life, but, knowing he’s landing over the fence, he tosses the all away … and it hits the boundary cushion, which means six runs, which means another expensive Archer over. Gosh, and when a single brings Powell back on to strike, a ball on to the pAds is easily glanced to the fence for four. Seventeen off the over, and England’s gun bowler has a problem.

“It’s reading like England are playing like they’re already having a fight in a bar somewhere, post-match,” says Jeremy Boyce. “Lots of swagger and threatening looks, swinging some wild haymakers and luckily making three of them count. Meanwhile Windies are picking their punches, and given that they’ve got mates waiting to join them it could end badly for the English barflies. Especially as I can’t see the Windies bowlers going at it like they’re three sheets to the wind already.”

12th over: West Indies 97-4 (Rutherford 22, Powell 2) Brook takes the latter option, bringing back Jacks, and Rutherford isn’t having him, a single to Powell offering him strike. He has a look, playing away a dot, then makes room to mass-murder a six over long on; a drag-down follows, so this time he plants feet like a boxer sitting down on his punches, flaying over midwicket for six more. Gosh, and the next delivery is well wide … but Rutherford doesn’t let it go, taking the wide, instead stretching to guide to the fielder at point. He’s not impressed with his behaviour, and when the final delivery of the over yields a leg-bye, the sense is that, despite the 14 that come from it, Jacks has got away with one.

11th over: West Indies 83-4 (Rutherford 10, Powell 4) Or, indeed, like I read Tolstoy, considering I haven’t yet; apologies to the brick. Back in the middle, Dawson continues, four singles off his second over, and does Brook keep Rashid going to try and kick West Indies when they’re down, or sneak in a less good bowler while they consolidate and rebuild?

10th over: West Indies 79-4 (Rutherford 8, Powell 2) After a dodgy first game, this is fantastic stuff from Rashid – the wicket was his 400th in T20 cricket – and after a dot, Powell is beaten by a ripper, a leg-break spitting past his edge. A two follows, the new man off the mark, but he’s reading these deliveries like a brick reads Tolstoy.

But it’s still out, hitting the top of leg.

Chase reviews!

10th over: West Indies 77-3 (Chase 33, Rutherford 8) A single to Chase, then Rashid looks to slant across Rutherford – so much so, it’s a wide – and a further single follows.

9th over: West Indies 74-3 (Chase 32, Rutherford 7) Dawson into the attack and, after a look at his first ball, Rutherford ushers his second to deep point and they run two. A single follows, then Chase goes down on one knee to help the ball over his and Burtler’s shoulder, a lovely deft caress that scuttles away for four. A single then restores Rutherford to the striker’s end, and he waits for one, soft hands paddling to deep backward point for two.

8th over: West Indies 64-3 (Chase 27, Rutherford 2) Chase larrups around the corner, the ball lands just short of midwicket, they run and Jacks shies, hitting … but he’s well in. A single follows but, offered one on the pads, Chase knows he can’t miss out, moving feet to pull four to deep backward square; Overton comes back well, with a dot.

7th over: West Indies 58-3 (Chase 21, Rutherford 1) As the contest is rousting, not rousting is what the contest entails. Anyroad up, Rashid is into the attack, and he might hold the key: four inexpensive overs, and West Indies will have go wild at the other end. The first two balls yield singles but the second of them spins big, Chase edging it as though stapled to the pitch, before a googly is too good for Rutherford and a dot completes an impressive over, three from iut.

6th over: West Indies 55-3 (Chase 20, Rutherford 0) Phew, this is the stuff, people. Rutherford tries a run-down first ball, Brook dives to stop, very good work, and that’s a wicket maiden. There’s always the chance that England take too many wickets for this to be close, but for now, this is a rousting contest.

6th over: West Indies 55-2 (Hetmyer 23, Chase 20) In a bid to stem the flow, Brook introduces Overton, and Chase checks a drive which drops just short of Archer at mid-on, but a decent pick-up means there’s a run out opportunity … and he misses the stumps. Still, this is better stuff from England, a leg-bye then a dot then a leg-bye for two slowing down the scoring.

5th over: West Indies 52-2 (Hetmyer 23, Chase 20) Jacks, hair dyed blonde presumably in tribute to Sick Boy, into the attack, coming around to the right-handed Chase, who has a look at his loosener, then makes room to slice over extra, before hauling a sweep for four, before lofting a drive over mid-off. Pressure for Jacks, and he’ll be relieved the next delivery only yields one .. er, but the final one of the over is punkt in the slot and Hetmyer doesn’t miss out, annihilating a slog-sweep over deep square for six making it 19 in total.

4th over: West Indies 33-2 (Hetmyer 17, Chase 7) Hetmyer stretches well out of the crease to flick a slower ball high into the air … scary hours as it drops … just short of the fielder. Then, served a sorter delivery, he gets absolutely all of it, the glorious knuck resounding and reverberating throughout the cosmos as he hammers a pull that starts flat and rises, over the fence at midwicket. Gosh, then given a ball on the pads, he turns it around the corner for four, and two singles complete a 14-run over. West Indies are into this now.

3rd over: West Indies 19-2 (Hetmyer 4, Chase 6) Cuttable ball from Archer, so Hetmyer waits, then clobbers through cover for four; a leg-bye follows. Chase then plays and misses, before Chase bends knees and presents the full face, flowing a gorgeous drive through cover fo fo mo. The over concludes with two more dots, so that’s nine off it, and this looks a really good track, offering a bit of help to everyone. This could be a really fun contest.

2nd over: West Indies 10-2 (Hetmyer 0, Chase 2) Chase drives to point for two, then edges a ball which doesn’t carry. An inswinger follows, contacting the pad, and Curran appeals but that was going down, impact probably outside the line. Two dots follow, and England will like this start, though it came about via error, not pressure.

2nd over: West Indies 8-1 (King 1, Hetmyer 0) Liam Dawson was going to bowl this over, but with the left-handed Hetmyer at the wicket, Sam Curran will have a go instead.

1st over: West Indies 8-1 (King 1, Hetmyer 0) Hetmyer played nicely against Scotland, but he’s served a beauty first up, the final ball of Archer’s over – delivered from around – squaring him up and nipping past hisoutside edge as he presses forward.

1st over: West Indies 8-0 (King 1, Hope 0) Archer – and Adil Rashid, England’s other banker – took some unexpected tap against Nepal. Both will need to do better today, but we begin with a leg-side wide; a dot follows, then King reaches to carve a wide one to deep square for a single. Then another dot, then a leaping ball dragged way outside off and, at slip, Overton can only impart a finger; it rushes to the fence for five wides. Gosh, another wide comes next, and this is more of the same form Archer so far – but he’ll be encouraged by a pitch that’s offering pace and bounce.

Alreet, out come Brandon King and Shai Hope, Jofra Archer has the ball, and we’re ready to go.

Our teams match out through a sponsor’s guard of honour, fireworks going, wannabe epic music playing; if you weren’t excited before, you’re definitely not excited now. Anthem time.

Email! “As exciting as the SA Afghanistan slobberknocker was,” begins Darrien Bold, “given it was a mere group game why couldn’t it have ended as a draw with none of those great mates going away empty-handed?”

I guess another aspect of T20’s character is that it offers a definitive outcome, which is, dare I say it, an Americanisation? US sport and perhaps society doesn’t brook draws or ambiguity. Rather, it reveres drama and dichotomy: winners and losers, red and blue, money and money.

Sky have just shown an interview with Sam Curran, who was on final-over duty against Nepal. He says that nailing line is much more important than nailing length, and knew that if it went badly, as sometimes it can – he didn’t hide that from himself – it’d be a massive story. He’s got serious ticker, him, and, as we’ve seen throughout his career, the skill of timing.

England, of course, sneaked by Nepal on Sunday; West Indies whacked Scotland on Saturday.

If there’s heavy dew, batting first is a big advantage because it makes the ball hard to grip. Both sides have serious batting firepower, but unreliable attacks, so we can expect runs.

It’s time for the toss. There’s confusion of whether Brook or Hope toss, it’s Brook, and Hope calls heads.

In Colombo, Australia, 182-6, are giving Ireland, 115-9 off 16.4, a doing. Oh, and as I type, they taken the final wicket to secure a 67-run victory.

Here’s a report on that SA v Afghanistan slobberknocker.

England v West Indies is one of the classic T20 matchups, principally because of the 2016 edition of this competition.

Understandably, that final assault ruined Ben Stokes’ career; he was never the same after that.

I wrote the below first thing this morning, but the point was emphasised by what happened in the Afghanistan v South Africa match, one of the most ludicrously brilliant you could wish to see. If you don’t know how it went, catch yourself up here, immediately; promise promise.

I can’t think of a forfeit for myself, but anyone who doesn’t deem the above worth their time, come up with something and I’ll do it, that’s how confident I am.