By Callum Dent
Chris Jordan was delighted to put on a show after displaying his all-round capabilities in England’s five-run triumph over West Indies in the third and final Twenty20 international in Barbados.
The 25-year-old, playing on the island of his birth, provided some stunning late hitting to lift England to 165 for six after the tourists struggled to build on a 98-run opening stand between Michael Lumb, who posted a T20I best of 63 off 40 balls, and Alex Hales.
Jordan smashed four maximums from Dwayne Bravo’s final over and then followed that up with three wickets as England signed off their tour of the Caribbean with a victory.
Jordan, who left Barbados as a teenager to take up a cricket scholarship at Dulwich College, said: "Some of my family and friends were watching me play international cricket for the first time.
"This was a special occasion. I was glad I could put in that performance both for England and [my family].
"There was mum, dad, everyone, probably close to 15 people.
"The occasion and my family watching - and avoiding a 3-0 defeat as well - makes this one very special.
"It was a very enjoyable game, obviously, to play in the place where I grew up.
"To put in a performance like that for England, it's one I'll probably remember for a very long time."
With 17 required off the final set of six, Darren Sammy threatened to blast West Indies to another victory, just like he did on Tuesday, when he pulled Jade Dernbach for a maximum.
However, the paceman responded with two dot balls either side of a wide to ensure England ended a run of five consecutive losses in this format and generated some momentum ahead of the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.
"It was all about holding your nerve at that point and having a very clear plan to Darren - because as we've seen throughout the series, and the one-day series, he's a ferocious striker of the ball and he can hurt you on his day,” Jordan said.
"Being very clear out there, and sticking to our plan, was the key to that victory."
Having seen England lose six wickets for 40 runs following Lumb and Hales’ superb stand, Jordan injected the innings with some much-needed impetus in the last over.
The right-hander clubbed Bravo for four sixes, including three in a row, en route to an unbeaten 27 off just nine deliveries.
Jordan insists hard work in the nets is paying off, saying: "I've been working on my batting quite a lot recently, and I'm striking them fairly well.
"I'm just glad I could make an impact at the end there. It was pretty surreal at first.
"I came in for that second-last over - and although we were running out of balls, I thought I'd just give myself a couple at first to get accustomed to the pitch and then go from there.
"Luckily, it came off in that last over."