ENG vs WI | Twitter laments as struggling Duckett's lack of confidence sees Windies mix-up go unpunished

06/01/2025

Ben Duckett's day grew from bad to worse in the second ODI in Cardiff against the West Indies

Sports at the elite level is a confidence game, where mindset can be the difference between a underachieving great talent and an all-time great. Ben Duckett was having a rough day in Cardiff after dropping two catches, the loss of confidence from which culminated in a horror run-out miss.

West Indies recovered well from an early loss of wicket after being asked to bat first by England in the second ODI against England. Brandon King combined with Keacy Carty after a scratchy start, that included surviving a brilliant Brydon Carse spell, for a 141-run stand to put the visitors back into the game. However, the come back did not come without its fair share of luck as England missed three opportunites to end the partnership. Absurdly enough, Ben Duckett was responsible for all of them.

The first chance came in the fourth over when Carty went after a Carse outswinger and got a thick outside edge but Duckett could not get both hands on ball as he dived to his right at slip and the chance went begging. Just seven deliveries later, King slashed hard at a shortish delivery outside off but the Kookaburra flew off the top-edge and over Duckett who only managed to get his fingertips on it.

Yet, the crowning moment came in the 22nd over when Carty pushed the ball to mid-on and went for a run but Duckett was sharp to his feet and as he collected the ball, both batsmen were stranded near the middle fo the pitch. However, instead of having a shy at the non-striker's set of stumps a couple yards away, Duckett instead went for an akward throw to the wicket-keeper and by the time the bails were removed, King was home safe.

Twitterati was all over the opener for his lousy day out.

Oh Lord!

— Birdman (@kingbirdman22)

Genius

Ben Duckett you are a genius. 👏
— Faiz Fazel (@theFaizFazel)

Wow

Duckett has dropped 2 catches and missed an obvious run out, he's scoring big today
— La Sirena🧜🏿‍♀️🍉🇵🇸 (@BlueberryShel)

True

Watching the replay back Duckett could've just strolled to the stumps at the bowlers end and took the bails off? WTF!
— Simon Meadows (@SimonMeadows9)

Likely

Duckett could've practically walked to the stumps bro the wi batter stopped running
— MrTigerz (@real_tigerz)

Nice

England v West Indies 🏏☀️
— mike jones (@jmwj20)

Good

Brandon King 50*

I did warn people in my Ireland series review that it was likely King would get a score in England and reach the time extension point.

Here we are. West Indies 116/1 (21)
— Caribbean Cricket Podcast (@CaribCricket)

The worst

This is the worst England fielding performance I’ve seen in a while. Like they’re conspiring to get West Indies to 300+ for a batting challenge
— Craig (@chinesecut4for)

High scoring