With Jamie Overton brought into the side for Luke Wood, England deepened their batting further. In theory, this should have liberated England to attack harder and earlier during their chase of 197. But while Phil Salt led the charge to 67 for one after the powerplay, England could not maintain their tempo against spin. Both Tom Banton, who made two and failed for the second consecutive game, and captain Harry Brook were dismissed playing tame chips against Gudakesh Motie.

“We were probably a little bit careful, myself included,” Brook lamented, after making 17 from 14 balls. “With the power we had at the back end, I could have taken a risk a little bit earlier.”

While England’s default is to attribute defeats to a lack of aggression, an alternative explanation is more worrying: that their woes are rooted less in approach and more in skill. Despite a fine 3-0 series victory in Sri Lanka prior to the tournament, there are legitimate questions over how the middle order begin against spin.

In his maiden World Cup, Banton has so far made four off nine balls, succumbing to spin in both games in Mumbai. Will Jacks and Jamie Overton, both renowned for their prowess against pace, floundered against spin here. Attempting to tuck Roston Chase’s unremarkable off-spin into the on side, Jacks seemed baffled when the ball eluded his bat and struck him on the shin instead.

Overton’s dismissal was exasperating, too. Six wickets down in the 16th over of their run chase, and needing another 56, England’s sole cause for optimism lay in the knowledge that four overs of pace from West Indies lay in wait. But by lofting Akeal Hosein’s very last delivery – the final ball that England would expect to face from a spinner – to long-off, Overton ensured that West Indies could revert to seam with their victory all but assured.

With the dew that England envisaged largely absent, West Indies’s trio of spinners combined for six for 94 from 12 overs; three of those wickets fell to the beguiling Motie. The best was a wrist-spinner to clean bowl Jacob Bethell, and end his sprightly 33. Motie has developed the rare art of switching from his normal default left-arm finger spin to wrist spin against left-handers, thereby continually turning the ball away from the bat.