Rehan Ahmed stars as England Lions complete T20 sweep of West Indies A

Rehan Ahmed took two wickets and hit eight sixes as the England Lions defeated West Indies A by 96 runs on Wednesday, completing a sweep of their three-match T20 series in St. Kitts and Nevis.

After a quiet summer, Rehan was omitted from England's white-ball squads for tours of Pakistan and Australia and challenged to disprove the Lions' selection process. He cracked his highest T20 score in a third-wicket partnership with James Rew worth 112 runs off 60 balls after West Indies A chose to bowl first in the final T20.

Rew, whose younger brother Thomas is captaining the Lions in the T20 leg of the tour, made 57 off 37 balls, while Rehan hit 92 off 46 balls from No. 3. Adam Finch took two early wickets as West Indies A responded, but Lions legspinners Calvin Harrison and Rehan shared five wickets to break through the middle order.

After bowling West Indies A out for just 98 in the first T20 on Sunday, England prevailed by eight wickets, with Naavya Sharma (4 for 19) and Scott Currie (3 for 11) impressing before Thomas Rew struck 50 not out in 24 balls.

Currie starred in a low-scoring win two days later, taking 3 for 17 as the Lions restricted West Indies A to 134 for 7 chasing 152 to win. Rehan scored the most runs from No. 3 with 31 out of 21 deliveries, and Shadrack Descarte and West Indies A captain Alick Athanaze shared 57 runs to keep the game alive.

Dan Lawrence will now serve as captain of the Lions and the teams will compete in five one-day games. After being left out of England's tri-series squad in Pakistan, James Coles and Mason Crane have arrived in the Caribbean. Coles, Eddie Jack, and Thomas Rew will fly to Australia for England's five T20Is after the third one-day match.

Keacy Carty, who has scored two hundreds in one-day internationals against England, will replace Athanaze as captain of the West Indies A team. Jediah Blades, Kirk McKenzie, and Shamar Springer have also been added to the squad. Oshane Thomas, the fast bowler who last played for West Indies in February 2024, is another notable addition.

After succeeding Andrew Flintoff earlier this year on a six-month contract, Jonathan Trott takes over the Lions for the first time during this tour.