JOS Buttler began life back in the ranks of England’s T20I side by making his highest score on home soil, his supremely calculated innings of 96 from 59 providing a reassuring touch of quality to a new-look batting order. Liam Dawson then marked his return to England duty after more than two years out of the side with his best return in any format, figures of 4 for 20 putting the skids under West Indies in the chase.

Buttler scored almost exactly half of England’s runs but did most of the heavy lifting to give his successor, Harry Brook, a largely comfortable first outing as T20I captain. Jamie Smith and Jacob Bethell were the only other batters to make double-figures on a lop-sided scorecard, but West Indies paid for a profligate start with the ball that allowed England to race away to 78 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.

Run-scoring became harder thereafter on a Chester-le-Street surface that was unusually receptive to slow bowling – something England had twigged by only including two seamers in their XI. Having notched a half-century from 25 balls, Buttler added 46 from his next 34 as partners came and went but did enough to steer England to an above-par total.

West Indies struggled to get going in reply. Dawson opened the bowling and made the breakthrough in his second over, luring Johnson Charles from his ground, before Matthew Potts removed West Indies captain, Shai Hope, with his second ball on debut. Evin Lewis briefly threatened to fire up the chase during an over from Bethell than cost 24 – but he was caught in the deep from the final ball, and when Dawson claimed the wickets of Sherfane Rutherford and Roston Chase in the space of three balls, the jig was as good as up.

Dawson steps up on return

It is only just over a year since Dawson seemed to have turned his back on international cricket, after 20 sporadic appearances across formats since his debut in 2016. He was overlooked for the Test tour of India, and seemed happy to embrace a future on the T20 franchise circuit rather than carrying drinks for England.

However, his continued excellence for Hampshire, coupled with the retirement of Moeen Ali and the decision to drop Liam Livingstone, opened up a window of opportunity with the T20I side. He grasped it with both hands on a chilly Friday night in Durham. His first over was Spandex tight, giving up just three runs; his second saw off Charles with a classic one-two, following a speared-in delivery with one that was beautifully flighted.

West Indies had been 44 for 2 at the end of the powerplay, but recovered somewhat to be 91 for 3 at halfway, needing 98 more. A tight over from Adil Rashid pushed the required run rate above 10, and then Dawson returned to take the guts out of the innings. Sherfane Rutherford and Roston Chase were caught in the deep before Rovman Powell was castled by one that skidded through from round the wicket. Afterwards, Dawson admitted to nerves on making his comeback – but by that stage he was holding the Player-of-the-Match award.