West Indies spoil England party

LONDON: Sensational. Amazing. Exciting. Brilliant. Magnificant. Superb. Thrilling. In almost complete darkness, Ian Bradshaw yesterday square drove a delivery from Alex Wharf through backward point for four to end West Indies’ 25-year wait for a major piece of silverware when they completed a dramatic two-wicket triumph over England to win the ICC Champions Trophy. Set 218 to hit the jackpot, West Indies looked a beaten side when Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who hit 47 from 66 balls, was dismissed, leaving them 147 for eight in the 34th over. But Bradshaw, named “Man-of-the-Match”, with 34 not out and Courtney Browne with an unbeaten 35 held their nerve to add 71, unbroken, for the ninth wicket and even declined an offer to go off for bad light in the 44th over to stage a remarkable comeback and carry West Indies to their target with seven balls to spare.

Choosing to field under cloudy skies on a hard easy-paced pitch at The Oval, West Indies had kept England’s batting in check, as Wavell Hinds snared three wickets for 24 runs from 10 overs and Bradshaw captured two for 54 from his 10 to restrict the hosts to 217 in 49.4 overs. West Indies, however, were stonewalled for most of the England innings by Trescothick. The hosts’ vice-captain was dropped twice late in his innings, but he too, kept his nerve throughout to hit 14 boundaries in 104 from 124 balls. Andrew Flintoff with three for 38 from 10 overs and Steve Harmison with two for 34 from his 10 had put West Indies under early pressure. Harmison had Wavell Hinds caught at point for three and Chris Gayle caught and bowled for 23,  while Flintoff removed West Indies vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, the “Man-of-the-Tournament”, caught at second slip for five, Lara and Dwayne Bravo both caught behind for 14 and zero respectively to leave West Indies 80 for five.

Left-hander Ryan Hinds with eight and Ricardo Powell with 14 helped Chanderpaul carry West Indies over the 100-run mark, but the three of them were shared between Trescothick and Paul Collingwood and England’s first ever major limited-overs victory looked assured. Browne and Bradshaw however, denied them with sensible batting. They saw off the dangerous Harmison and Flintoff, and prevailed over England’s other bowlers to edge West Indies over the hump and land them their first major trophy since the 1979 World Cup in England. Earlier, West Indies gave chances to Trescothick in the 43rd over when wicketkeeper Browne was wrong-footed and failed to hold an edge off Bradshaw when the left-hander was 83, and in the 46th over, when Ricardo Powell could only get his fingertips to a top-edged sweep off Gayle when the batsman was on 94. Despite those two reprieves that conceded boundaries, Trescothick drove a delivery from Dwayne Bravo to long-off for a single to reach the milestone before he was the seventh wicket —  run out at the bowler’s end to cap a fine day in the field for West Indies captain Brian Lara, who also held three catches.

Apart from Ashley Giles, who hit three fours in 31 from 37 balls in a stand of 63 for the seventh wicket with Trescothick, none of the other England batsmen seemed to have an answer to the West Indies’ bowling that was steady, if not fearsome, and was supported by agile fielding. Bradshaw put the first two nails in England’s coffin. In the fifth over, Vikram Solanki was caught behind for four, and in the 10th over, England captain Michael Vaughan was bowled off the inside edge for seven to leave his side 43 for two. A stand of 41 between Trescothick and fellow left-hander Andrew Strauss stabilised England’s innings, but two wickets in the space of 13 balls saw the hosts wobble again. Strauss was run out when Bravo, on his follow-through, threw down the stumps at the striker’s end with the batsmen trying to steal a single off the last ball of the 20th over.

But the next blow to England’s plans was the most significant. Flintoff, whose exploits with the bat in recent matches has won him much acclaim, pulled a short ball from Wavell Hinds and Lara at mid wicket held a smart, left-handed catch millimetres off the ground. It left England 93 for four in the 23rd over and, despite the intervention of Trescothick, in particular, and Giles later on, their innings never got into high gear with Wavell Hinds setting them back further with the wickets of Collingwood for 16 in the 33rd over and Geraint Jones for six in the 39th over before Bravo and Gayle wiped away the tail. (CMC)