England seal historic victory

BRIDGETOWN: Fast bowler Matthew Hoggard captured a high-quality hat-trick yesterday to help England beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the third cricket Test and seal a historic first series victory in the Caribbean since 1968. Hoggard dismissed Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ryan Hinds in successive balls as the West Indies, overnight 21 for one, were flattened for 94 all out on the stroke of tea. England raced to their victory target of 93 late in the day to take a winning 3-0 lead in the four-match Cable and Wireless series. The last time England enjoyed success in the West Indies was 36 years ago when Colin Cowdrey’s team took the 1968 series by a 1-0 scoreline. The victory sparked huge celebrations among the team and their 10,000-strong band of travelling supporters, who dominated the Kensington Oval throughout the Test match.

The entire England squad celebrated yesterday’s victory with a lap of honour around the outfield in fading light as their fans chanted and waved the Union Jack. Earlier, the West Indies were undone by 27-year-old Hoggard, who took four for 35 off 14 overs in his 25th Test. Steve Harmison claimed three for 34 to take his series-high tally of wickets to 22. Andrew Flintoff followed his five-wicket haul in the first innings with two for 20. West Indies captain Brian Lara withstood the pace barrage for just under three hours on a lively pitch. The star left-hander topscored with 33 before he was ninth out after striking two boundaries off 112 balls. Hoggard gave England early success before his hat-trick heroics, as Daren Ganga edged to third slip at 34 for two. Lara and his deputy Sarwan battled for half hour to defy the probing visiting attack. Hoggard, from Yorkshire, firmly emphasised in his 11th over sprinting in from the Joel Garner end. First, Sarwan drove loosely and provided a waist-high catch to Ashley Giles at gully.

Next ball, left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul was plainly leg before as he shuffled across and was hit in front by an inswinger. Hoggard raced in to complete the hat-trick as Hinds failed for the second time in the match. The left-hander’s tentative defensive stroke was edged to second slip where Andrew Flintoff  held a comfortable chance. Celebrations on the field were unrestrained as Hoggard was swamped by all his teammates. It was the 10th hat-trick in Test cricket by an Englishman and the third for England against the West Indies. The last England bowler to claim a hat-trick — three wickets in three balls — was Darren Gough against Australia in Sydney in the 1998-99 season. Peter Loader at Leeds in 1957 and Dominic Cork at Manchester in 2000 were the only others to take hat-tricks against the West Indies. At 45 for five, the West Indian collapse was well under way. There was more local gloom three runs later when Flintoff got one to rear at Ridley Jacobs, who gloved to fine gully. Lara and Tino Best shared a brave seventh-wicket stand of 32 either side of lunch to lift the West Indies to 80 for six before rain caused the first of three interruptions in the day.

Best scored 12 off 30 balls but perished first ball after the restart as Flintoff snared the breakthrough. Marcus Trescothick pouched a first slip catch as Best fended off a short delivery. Pedro Collins was run out by a direct hit from Nasser Hussain at 81 for eight, as Lara sought to keep the strike. Once Lara’s brave vigil was ended by Harmison, the end came swiftly as the West Indies were dismissed for their lowest total in 41 Tests on the ground. Lara swatted a pull to his opposite number Michael Vaughan at mid-on. Harmison finished off the innings as Fidel Edwards fended to Hussain at short leg. Under overcast skies, England powered to its modest target with openers Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick leading the way. They shared a stand of 57 — their highest of the series — before Corey  Collymore removed both to the wicket-keeper’s catches. Vaughan hit five fours and a six in 32 off 33 balls, while left-hander Trescothick hit six fours and a six in 42 off 61deliveries. Mark Butcher then hit the winning runs. 

Third Test Scoreboard

WEST INDIES VS ENGLAND
West Indies 1st Innings 224
England 1st Innings 226
West Indies 2nd  Innings                         
(Overnight 21-1)
C Gayle b Harmison 15
D Ganga c Thorpe b Hoggard 11
B Lara c Vaughan b Harmison 33
R Sarwan c Giles b Hoggard 5
S Chanderpaul LBW b Hoggard 0
R Hinds c Flintoff b Hoggard 0
R Jacobs c Butcher b Flintoff 1
T Best c Trescohick b Flintoff 12
P Collins run out 1
C Collymore not out 6
F Edwards c Hussain b Harmison 2
EXTRAS (LB5, NB3) 8
TOTAL (All out) 94
Overs: 42.1.
Fall of wickets: 19, 34, 45, 45, 45, 48, 80, 81, 85.
BOWLING: Matthew Hoggard 14-4-35-4 (NB1), Steve Harmison 15.1-5-34-3, Andrew Flintoff 13-4-20-2 (NB1).
England 2nd Innings                         
M Trescothick c Jacobs b Collymore 42
M Vaughan c Jacobs b Collymore 32
M Butcher not out 13
N Hussain not out 0
EXTRAS (LB3, W1, NB2) 6
TOTAL (For 2 wickets) 93
Overs: 20.
Did not bat: Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Chris Read, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Steve Harmison.
BOWLING: Fidel Edwards 6-0-32-0, Tino Best 3-0-18-0 (W1),  Corey Collymore 7-2-24-2, Pedro Collins 4-0-16-0.
RESULT: England win by 8 wickets (lead 3-0 in four-match series).
“Man-of-the-Match”: Graham Thorpe.