Andre Russell marked his return to international cricket with three wickets as West Indies restricted England to 171 all out in the opening Twenty20 international in Barbados on Tuesday.
England openers Phil Salt and skipper Jos Buttler got the tourists off to a rollicking start in a 77-run opening stand after West Indies had won the toss and elected to field.
Salt hit 40 off 20 balls, including six fours and a six, before being removed by all-rounder Russell after a superb catch on the boundary by Shimron Hetmyer.
Buttler kept the scoreboard ticking over but the wickets began to tumble after Will Jacks fell for 17.
Akeal Hosein then claimed the key wicket of Buttler for 39, and West Indies bowlers continued to cause problems for England thereafter.
“I’m happy to be back,” said Russell after finishing with figures of 3-19 off four overs.
“It was a very, very good start from them, but we stuck together as a team. Hopefully we can get a good start and get the job done,” added Russell, making his first return to the West Indies T20 line-up since 2021.
Alzarri Joseph also finished with three wickets off 3.3 overs for 54 runs.
