Windies stomp England in NatWest

NOTTINGHAM: A heartening effort by their array of inexperienced bowlers followed by a determined batting performance earned the West Indies a comfortable seven-wicket victory over England yesterday and surged the Caribbean side to the top of the tri-nation standings following the first completed match of the rain-affected NatWest Series. On a predominantly sunny and breezy day that contrasted sharply with the miserable conditions that prevailed in the no-result against New Zealand the previous day in Birmingham, the West Indies silenced the full house at Trent Bridge, romping to a modest target of 148 with almost 18 overs to spare after the hosts had given their supporters hope in rallying from a poor start only to lose their last eight wickets for 63 runs.

Experienced left-arm pacer Ian Bradshaw had struck two critical blows with the wickets of Marcus Trescothick and skipper Michael Vaughan in his first two overs, but after the pair of Geraint Jones and Andrew Strauss redressed the balance in an entertaining 82-run third-wicket stand, the West Indies regained the initiative through their young pacers and never looked back, even as the batsmen faced more than a few testing moments in pursuit of victory from England’s opening bowlers. Dwayne Bravo enhanced his reputation as a rising all-round talent with his best ODI figures of three for 26 overs, breaking the back of the England resistance after young pacer Ravi Rampaul returned from an ordinary first spell to end the Jones-Strauss partnership and trigger the slide.

Jermaine Lawson, the lone wicket-taker between the showers at Edgbaston, ensured there would be no late order revival with two more scalps and when Dwayne Smith polished off the innings by trapping Rikki Clarke LBW in the 39th over, the West Indies had already exceeded expectations. However they needed some luck in easing towards the target for openers Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were both missed in the slips as Steve Harmison and Darren Gough gave the two left-handers a searching examination on a pitch where the new white ball seamed away sharply. Their stand of 61 proved crucial in that it gave the West Indies the confidence of a solid foundation and the tourists could afford the luxury of a minor wobble in the middle-order — when three wickets fell for 31 runs — before Lara arrived to see his team home with a flourish in partnership with Gayle.

The big left-handed Gayle offered his usual mixture of bludgeoning strokes, streaky edges and agricultural swings in an unbeaten innings of 60, his 21st half-century in the shorter version of the game speeding his team to their target. The counter-attack by Gayle and Lara ended any lingering anxiety in the West Indian camp and their unbroken stand of 55 for the fourth wicket was climaxed by a dazzling array of strokes, Lara ending the match with an imperious on-drive off James Anderson to finish unbeaten on 32 off 29 balls even as the clouds rolled in and light rain swept over the ground before the presentation ceremony. In achieving this victory so swiftly, the West Indies claimed the available bonus point to lift their overall tally to nine, sending them three ahead of New Zealand, who have endured two no-results, with England at the bottom on three points. The hosts will be seeking swift revenge when they take on the Caribbean squad in a day/night duel at Headingley on Thursday, but before that, England have a date with New Zealand in another day/night encounter at the Chester-le-Street ground in Durham tomorrow.

Bravo, who has often stated his desire to follow in the footsteps of Lara — both coming from the Santa Cruz area — underlined his potential with a purposeful spell. The 20-year-old was named Man of the Match. Bradshaw had justified his captain’s decision to bowl first, prompting Trescothick to flick the fourth delivery of the match unerringly to Lara at square-leg and then celebrating again when Vaughan’s attempted flick to leg took a leading edge and spooned a simple catch to Ramnaresh Sarwan at mid-on.