England rediscovering the rhythms of 50-over batting has been welcome.
Their bowling has also impressed at times in this series but this showing proved there remains significant room for improvement.
The recalled Evin Lewis pulled Brydon Carse to mid-wicket, Brandon King drove Matthew Potts to point and Shai Hope pulled Saqib Mahmood to deep square leg all within the first powerplay – an opening 10 overs delayed by 30 minutes after the Windies were stuck in traffic – but those wickets came amid the regular loss of line and length by England’s pace trio.
Left-hander Rutherford, who missed the first two matches of the series because of his commitments at the Indian Premier League, played a lone hand either side of the rain to rebuild as Rashid dismissed Keacy Carty for 29 and Justin Greaves and Chase in consecutive deliveries.
Ultimately, Rutherford was caught at long-on mistiming a pull off Carse, leaving West Indies seven down in the 28th over with the innings still in danger.
Motie, having earlier hit Rashid’s hat-trick ball for six, chanced his arm with a counter-attack and ended up adding 91 in 68 balls with Alzarri Joseph.
The overs of England’s fifth bowler were again made up by part-time spinners Will Jacks and Jacob Bethell, who were largely innocuous while Carse, Potts and Mahmood struggled for penetration with the older ball.
That, though, is a problem for another day.
Brook’s rebuild is under way while West Indies, who will be able to call on all-rounders Jason Holder and Andre Russell plus former captain Rovman Powell in their ranks, will hope to be more competitive in the T20s.
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