Jos Buttler produced a captain's innings in his first Twenty20 appearance since giving up the post as he and the recalled Liam Dawson guided England to a 21-run victory over the West Indies at Chester-le-Street Friday.
Buttler, who helped new white-ball skipper Harry Brook seal a 3-0 sweep in the preceding one-day international series, underlined his standing as one of the world's best white-ball batsmen with a blistering 96 off just 59 balls in a total of 188/6.
Veteran left-arm spinner Dawson, returning to England duty after almost three years in the international wilderness, followed up with a T20 international best 4/20 as the West Indies were held to 167/9 while going 1-0 down in a three-match series.
Earlier, Buttler took centre stage following the early loss of opener Ben Duckett with an array of reverse sweeps, ramps and more traditional straight drives while hitting six fours and four sixes.
But he fell four shy of a century when leg before wicket to paceman Alzarri Joseph, whose four overs cost an expensive 51 runs.
Brook gave Dawson the new ball and the 35-year old responded by having Johnson Charles, who misread a slower delivery, stumped by Buttler.
England bowled 12 overs of spin, with Adil Rashid and Jacob Bethell in the wickets.
Brook said his decision to opt for so much slow bowling was influenced by next year's T20 World Cup being staged in India and Sri Lanka, where the pitches are renowned for aiding spinners.
"The next T20 World Cup is going to be in Sri Lanka and India. We're not completely set on this structure for the team but it's worth a go and it worked this time," said Brook, a 26-year old Yorkshire batsman.
Dawson, repeatedly overlooked by England for spinners with inferior county records, also snared Sherfane Rutherford, Roston Chase and Rovman Powell as the West Indies slumped to defeat.
"He bowled beautifully," said Brook.
"He's got so many skills."
The West Indies were frustrated by the absence of a left-arm spinner of their own, with Akeal Hosein yet to arrive following delays related a change in UK visa requirements for Trinidad and Tobago.
Cricket West Indies said "attempts to expedite the visa process" had been unsuccessful but a team spokesperson confirmed Friday the 32-year old could arrive ahead of Tuesday's finale in Southampton.
"He was missed, he's one of our frontline players. It's an unfortunate situation," said the West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder.
Nevertheless, he added: "We had a team that was good enough to beat England but we fell a little short, particularly with the bat."
The series continues at Bristol Sunday.
1ST T20
England 188/6 (Buttler 96, Shepherd 2/33) beat West Indies 167/9 (Lewis 39, Dawson 4/20) by 21 runs
