England’s white-ball tour of the Caribbean came to a soggy end as heavy showers in St Lucia led to an abandonment in the final T20 after just five overs were bowled.
The West Indies had reached 44 without loss, with Evin Lewis muscling a couple of sixes in his 29 not out off 20 balls and Shai Hope unbeaten on 14 off 10, when the downpours began at 4:25pm local time.
While the square and bowler’s run-ups were protected from the deluge with sheets, much of the outfield was left uncovered and several puddles formed to quash any hopes of play getting back under way.
The ground staff had long disappeared from the field of play when, with the rain still falling, the teams shook hands at 6.10pm to bring an end to the dead rubber as England won the series 3-1.
Jos Buttler opted to field first which made England firm favourites as the seven previous matches on this tour – three ODIs and four T20s – were won by the captain who has called correctly at the toss.
Lewis and Hope put on 136 in nine overs on Saturday to underpin a Windies consolation win on Saturday and the openers started brightly as England brought back senior bowlers Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid.
Lewis, for the second match in a row, got off the mark with a slash over Jamie Overton at slip before connecting more cleanly with a heavy-handed whip over deep midwicket off Archer and John Turner.
Turner conceded 16 off five deliveries before finishing the over by striking Lewis on the helmet, which proved to be the final act as rain had the final say at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium.
This was England’s final limited-overs match under caretaker Marcus Trescothick, with Test head coach Brendon McCullum poised to take charge of England in all three formats from January.
England earlier announced white-ball assistants Carl Hopkinson and Richard Dawson will leave their posts. It is unclear whether they will be replaced in the coaching structure under McCullum.