Harry Brook says England were too careful with bat in loss to West Indies

Harry Brook felt England were a “little bit careful” after capitulating against the West Indies but he denied his side have problems batting against spin in Asia.

England stumbled from 74 for one chasing 197 to 141 for seven, with slow left-armers Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein and off-spinner Roston Chase sharing all six wickets after the powerplay in Mumbai.

Sam Curran was tasked with another rescue act having bailed them out with the ball against Nepal on Sunday, but he was left stranded on an unbeaten 43 from England’s 166 all out as they lost by 30 runs.

A first defeat of the T20 World Cup leaves England with familiar questions about their ability to handle spin on the subcontinent, but Brook argued a pair of white-ball wins in Sri Lanka recently proves they can deal with it.

When asked if his batters struggle against the slow bowlers in this part of the world, Brook said: “No, I don’t think so. That series against Sri Lanka showed that, I thought we played spin really well out there. We’ve just had a bad day today.”

Brook, though, lumped himself in with some of the batters who afforded the Windies spin trio with too much respect, rather than taking them on.

The Yorkshireman was frustrated with offering a tame catch in the ring off Motie – Tom Banton suffered the same fate – and admitted England’s deep batting line-up should have seen them attack the spinners more often.

Brook said: “We were probably a little bit careful, myself included. With the power and depth we have, we do think we can chase almost anything. Obviously today we didn’t.

“I’d much rather get caught on the boundary than the way I did today. They bowled well, kept themselves in the game the whole time and we lost quite a few wickets in clusters which never really helps.

“Chasing nearly 200 is always a big ask and we thought the pitch would get a little bit better and it slide on to the bat a little bit more, but that didn’t happen.”

Despite Adil Rashid bouncing back from a rare pasting by Nepal to take two for 16 at the Wankhede Stadium – he did not concede a single boundary – most of his team-mates struggled to contain the Windies.

Jofra Archer leaked 48 from four overs after conceding 42 against Nepal although Sherfane Rutherford was dropped off his bowling on 23. He went on to make 76 in the Windies’ 196 for six, thrashing seven of their 13 sixes.

Brook, though, insisted he has no concerns over Archer, saying: “No, not really. Everybody knows how good Jof is – he’ll bounce back for sure. He’s bowling rapid and I’m sure he’ll execute better in the coming games.

“We didn’t quite execute well enough with the ball and they probably got 20 too many.

“(But Rashid was) unbelievable. That’s the Rash everybody knows and loves. His skill and nous out there was unreal to watch.”

England now must win their final two Group C games against Scotland on Saturday and Italy on Monday, both in Kolkata, to almost certainly guarantee their progress to the Super Eights.

He added: “We won against Nepal, otherwise it would’ve been a tricky situation. We play Scotland and Italy next and we have to do our homework and get back to basics.”