T20 World Cup 2026 | 'Too careful, not dewy enough': England skipper Brook shares reason for loss vs West Indies

England captain Harry Brook says the team is 'too careful' after defeat against West Indies in T20 World Cup 2026 on Wednesday (Feb 11) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Brook's team, who had barely got past Nepal by 4 runs in their opening match of the tournament, failed to chase down 197 against two-time winners WI. Brook said that he decided to chase, thinking dew will make the wicket better in second innings, but it didn't happen. England, however, still remain on course of the qualification in the Super 8 stage with their next match against Scotland before finishing up the group stage against debutant Italy.

Brooks blames 'careful approach' for England's loss against West Indies

"We were probably a little bit careful, myself included," said Brook. "I'd much rather be caught on the boundary rather than the way I did today. That's part of T20 cricket. Chasing nearly 200 is always a big ask and we thought the pitch would get better and it would slide onto the bat a little more, and that didn't happen. We thought it was chaseable, definitely. We obviously planned for dew (opting to bat second) and it didn't quite get as dewy as we thought."

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The England skipper also acknowledged benefits of coming on top against Nepal in a thriller and said: Thank god we won against Nepal the other night. Otherwise we'd be in a tricky situation."

West Indies vs England - Match summary

Batting first, West Indies were 8/2 when Shimron Hetmyer (23 off12) and Roston Chase (34) added 47 runs for the third wicket to bring some stability. Once Hetmyer was out, Sherfane Rutherford came to the crease and stayed till the end. Rutherford scored unbeaten 42-ball 76, hitting 2 fours and 7 sixes, and was helped by cameos from Rovman Powell (14) as well as Jason Holder (not out 33 off 17) as West Indies posted 196/6 in 20 overs.

During the chase, England were given a good start by Phil Salt's 30 off 14 but things started to turn for bad at the eighth over mark with the team at 85/3. England were ahead in the game but WI spinners pulled things back nicely with Gudakesh Motie being the best bowler (3/33 in 4 overs). Sam Currant tried his best, staying not out at 43 off 30 balls, but England were eventually bowled out for 166 in 19 overs, losing the match by 30 runs.