Buttler powers England to a 7-wicket win over West Indies in the second T20 for a 2-0 series lead

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) — England captain Jos Buttler bounced back to form after a months-long injury layoff with a brutal innings of 83 in a seven-wicket win for his team against West Indies on Sunday in the second Twenty20 international.

Buttler smashed six sixes and eight fours in his 45-ball innings as England finished on 161-3 with 31 deliveries to spare and took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

In a major change of fortune, Phil Salt, who hit an unbeaten century in the first T20 which England won by eight wickets on Saturday, was out to the first ball of the tourists' innings. Buttler, who made a first-ball duck in the same match, shook off that setback to top score for England 24 hours later.

Buttler returned to the England team for this series after being out since June with a calf injury and won important tosses in both of the first two matches, allowing England to bowl first and successfully chase.

Buttler helped to propel England past the home team's 158-8. He came to the crease with England 0-1 and put on 129 for England's second wicket with Will Jacks, who made 38 from 29 balls.

Buttler reached his half century from 32 balls. One of the sixes in his innings, off Gudakesh Motie, flew out of Kensington Oval into the surrounding street.

“It's great to spend some time in the middle,” Buttler said. “I was a bit scratchy for the first few balls but managed to come through that. I really enjoyed it. It's great to be back out there.”

Jacks and Buttler both were out in the 13th over as England slipped to 130-3 but Liam Livingstone (23 not out) and Jacob Bethell (3 not out) calmly saw England home. Livingstone finished the run chase with a six from the fifth ball of the 15th over.

Earlier, captain Rovman Powell top-scored with a 41-ball 43 in a mediocre West Indies innings.

The hosts lost three wickets in the power play, as they did in the first match of the series. Once again Saqib Mahmood bowled superbly at the start of the innings, this time in partnership with Jofra Archer who replaced the injured Reece Topley.

Mahmood dismissed Brandon King in the second over of the innings and Roston Chase in the fourth. Archer removed Evin Lewis in the third over as West Indies slumped to 35-3, then 44-3 after the six-over power play.

Nicholas Pooran and Powell stabilized the innings, taking the West Indies to 63-3 after 10 overs. Livingstone claimed a key wicket when he had Pooran stumped for 14 with the total 70.

Livingstone struck again to dismiss Sherfane Rutherford (1) who tried to sweep a ball that turned and was hit on the pad. England successfully reviewed the umpire's decision of not out. Powell and Romario Shepherd, who made 22 from 12 balls, helped boost the total.

The third match of the series will be played at Gros Islet, St. Lucia, on Thursday.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

England's Will Jacks hits for six runs from the bowling of West Indies' Akeal Hosein during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

England's captain Jos Buttler plays a shot against West Indies during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

England's Phil Salt plays a shot against West Indies during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

England's captain Jos Buttler and Will Jacks celebrate runs against West Indies during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

England's Will Jacks hits for six runs from a delivery of Roston Chase during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

West Indies' captain captain Rovman Powell plays a shot for six runs as England's Phil Salt keeps wicket during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

England's Dan Mousley, left, celebrates wicket keeper Phil Salt taking the wicket of West Indies' captain Rovman Powell during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

West Indies' Romario Shepherd plays a shot against England during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

England's Dan Mousley, left, celebrates wicket keeper Phil Salt taking the wicket of West Indies' captain Rovman Powell during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

West Indies' Sherfane Rutherford plays a shot against England during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

England's Jamie Overton takes the catch to dismiss West Indies' Gudakesh Motie during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

West Indies' Terrance Hinds plays a shot fro four runs as England's Phil Salt keeps wicket during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

West Indies' captain Rovman Powell play against England during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

England's captain Jos Buttler plays a shot a shot for six runs against West Indies during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

England's captain Jos Buttler throws his bat into the air as he walks off the field, caught by West Indies' captain Rovman Powell for 83 runs, during the second T20 cricket match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A pair of European satellites rocketed into orbit Thursday on the first mission to create artificial solar eclipses through fancy formation flying in space.

Each fake eclipse should last six hours once operations begin next year. That's considerably longer than the few minutes of totality offered by a natural eclipse here on Earth, allowing for prolonged study of the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere.

The launch took place from India.

“We are a very happy science team here” in India, the European Space Agency's mission scientist Joe Zender said via email.

Billed as a tech demo, the two satellites will separate in a month or so and fly 492 feet (150 meters) apart once reaching their destination high above Earth, lining up with the sun so that one spacecraft casts a shadow on the other.

This will require extreme precision, within just one millimeter, equivalent to a fingernail's thickness, according to the European Space Agency. To maintain their position, the satellites will rely on GPS, star trackers, lasers and radio links, flying autonomously.

Each cube-shaped spacecraft is less than 5 feet (1.5 meters) across. The shadow-casting satellite holds a disk to block the sun from the telescope on the other satellite. This disk will mimic the moon in a natural total solar eclipse, with the darkened satellite posing as Earth.

“This has a huge scientific relevance” in addition to testing high-precision formation flying,” said the European Space Agency’s technology and engineering director Dietmar Pilz.

Scientists need the glaring face of the sun completely blocked in order to scrutinize the wispy crown-like corona encircling it, getting an especially good look close to the solar rim on this mission. They're particularly interested to learn why the corona is hotter than the surface of the sun, and also want to better understand coronal mass ejections, eruptions of billions of tons of plasma with magnetic fields out into space.

The resulting geomagnetic storms can disrupt power and communication on Earth and in orbit. Such outbursts can also produce stunning auroras in unexpected places.

With a lopsided orbit stretching from 370 miles (600 kilometers) to 37,000 miles (60,000 kilometers) away, the satellites will take nearly 20 hours to circle the world. Six of those hours — at the farther end of certain orbits — will be spent generating an eclipse. Other orbits will be strictly for formation flying experiments, according to the European Space Agency.

The first eclipse results should be available in March, following checkout of both craft.

Zender said eclipses will be created at least twice a week, with six hours of totality each time for corona observations. The frequency will depend on solar activity, he noted, and prove a boon for scientists who now must travel across the world for a mere three to five minutes of totality during the occasional eclipse.

The $210 million mission, dubbed Proba-3, is aiming for at least 1,000 hours of “on demand” totality during its two-year operation. Once their job is done, both satellites will gradually drop lower until they burn up in the atmosphere, likely within five years.

Liftoff was delayed a day by a last-minute issue with the backup propulsion system of one of the satellites, crucial for precision formation flying. The European Space Agency said engineers relied on a computer software fix.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This image taken from video provided by the European Space Agency shows the launching of a rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. A pair of European satellites rocketed into orbit Thursday on the first mission to create artificial solar eclipses through fancy formation flying in space. (European Space Agency via AP)

This image provided by the European Space Agency shows a pair of probes creating an artificial total solar eclipse through formation flying. (European Space Agency via AP)