West Indies 239-9 Innings Complete (D J Bravo 69) v England 136-1 (A J Strauss 79 no)
England beat West Indies by 9 wkts (D/L Method)
England set up a series finale in St Lucia on Friday after a crushing nine wicket victory over the West Indies in a rain-affected One Day International in Barbados.
The hosts made 239-9 in 50 overs but after a series of showers swept in over Bridgetown, England were set a revised target of 135 in 20 overs to level the series at 2-2.
Given their recent Twenty20 travails, that could have been a problem for England, but openers Andrew Strauss and Ravi Bopara set about the West Indies bowling with relish.
The pair put on 108 for the first wicket in fewer than 15 overs before Bopara holed out to Nikita Miller at long-on off Keiron Pollard for 35 from 39 balls.
But it was Strauss who was the driving force behind the England run-chase, the skipper playing some unusually extravagant shots on his way to an unbeaten 79 in just 61 balls.
Strauss blasted nine fours and a six in an innings bristling with aggression – although he may have been fortunate to survive an appeal for caught behind, the third umpire ruling that the ball had not carried into the gloves of Ramdin.
Earlier, Dwayne Bravo’s innings rescued West Indies from 145-6 in the 35th over to a final total of 239-9 from their full allocation.
They had looked on course for a much bigger score when Chris Gayle smashed 46 off 39 balls to get the innings off to a flyer.
England opted for an all-seam attack, recalling paceman Steve Harmison in place of off-spinner Gareth Batty in a bid to exploit the bounce on offer at the Kensington Oval.
After Andrew Strauss had won the toss and elected to field, his opposite number Gayle – fresh from a 43-ball 80 in Friday’s rout – signalled his intent by taking 10 from Stuart Broad’s second over, the fourth of the innings.
Dismissive
In between a huge six to midwicket and dismissive drive down the ground for four, the Jamaican left-hander was fortunate that umpire Steve Davis turned down an lbw appeal when Broad’s inswinger looked to be on course to take out leg-stump.
Andrew Flintoff, introduced in the sixth over, was also treated disdainfully with Gayle hammering the Lancastrian’s first ball of the match into the crowd at long-on.
The onslaught continued as Harmison’s opening two overs disappeared for 17 runs before the return of Broad produced the breakthrough.
Gayle, having just hit his fifth maximum, miscued an ugly swipe high in the air and wicketkeeper Matt Prior moved to his left for a straightforward catch.
Lendl Simmons and Ramnaresh Sarwan quickly followed their skipper back to the pavilion as West Indies were pegged back at 83-3 in the 16th over.
A mix-up over a second run ended Simmons’ promising knock on 29. Sarwan initially appeared keen on coming back for two but changed his mind to leave his young team-mate stranded in mid-pitch – Dimitri Mascarenhas relayed the ball from midwicket for Prior to complete the dismissal.
Sarwan (6) played back back onto his stumps after being surprised by some extra bounce in Flintoff’s next over before Denesh Ramdin and Shivnarine Chanderpaul regrouped with a 43-run stand.
Wicketkeeper Ramdin contributed 26 off 29 balls but had become frustrated by Mascarenhas’ accurate spell and skied a drive in the air to Flintoff, who pedalled backwards from mid-on to take the catch.
KP back spasm
But, just as England began to exert pressure, Kevin Pietersen suffered a lower back spasm and was forced off the field before he could finish his only over. Shortly afterwards, rain halted play for 45 minutes with West Indies on 137-4 in the 31st over.
In the third over after the restart, Mascarenhas claimed the key wicket of Chanderpaul, caught by Prior standing up to the stumps.
The Hampshire all-rounder soon followed up with his third scalp, Keiron Pollard holing out to Flintoff, who just managed to stay inside the boundary marker at deep midwicket to complete the catch.
At 143-6, West Indies were in danger of being skittled for a low total, only for Bravo to deliver a brilliant counter-attacking innings including seven fours and two sixes.
Bravo’s aggression helped West Indies add 50 during their batting power play from overs 42-46, but he fell with four overs remaining and the home side were only able to add 14 runs before the end of the innings.
England, meanwhile, saw Pietersen leave the field with his back problem and Flintoff later sustained severe bruising to his left thumb when fielding the ball off his own bowling.
The match also proved to be a damp swansong for umpire Steve Bucknor. The Jamaican official has decided to hang up his coat after a decorated career featuring 128 Tests, 181 ODIs and five World Cup finals. He received a standing ovation as he left the field at the end of play.
