Trini Post

Andrew Flintoff took a hat-trick as England achieved their first one-day series victory in the West Indies by winning the deciding game by 26 runs. In a match reduced to 29 overs per side Kevin Pietersen (48) and Ravi Bopara (44) shared 80 from 14 overs and Paul Collingwood hit an unbeaten 35. Chasing 173, the home side lost Chris Gayle for a third ball duck but Dwayne Bravo shared 55 with Kieron Pollard.

Both fell in two balls and Flintoff soon settled it, finishing with 5-19.
It was a jubilant finale to a long winter for England, which threatened to go without a victory following Test and one-day series defeats in India and a 1-0 reverse in the Test series here. Flintoff’s dramatic hat-trick is the first by an England player in overseas one-day internationals.

There was a four-hour delay because of the wet outfield but the match was all set to begin as a 33-over contest. England started badly, losing skipper Andrew Strauss to the first ball of the second over as Ravi Rampaul made an immediate impact in his first one-day international for over a year. Pietersen struck imperious drives through the covers for four off successive Fidel Edwards deliveries as 35 came from the six overs of the compulsory powerplay.

The fifty stand was recorded from as many balls, Pietersen thumping a Rampaul slower ball straight down the ground for six and Bopara also clearing the ropes with a pull off Darren Sammy. Sammy, the first St Lucian to play for the West Indies, dived forward but it flicked up off his wrists and appeared to bounce on the ground then be trapped under him as he lay on the turf and claimed the catch.

Four wickets fell for 24 in five and a half overs, Bopara’s enterprising innings ending when he top-edged a flick to leg. Collingwood recorded the 50 stand from 45 balls in the final over with a deft glance for four but the big moment came in the first over of the Windies innings.The England all-rounder claimed 2-7 from his opening three-over spell, first dismissing Ramnaresh Sarwan, whose fluent 23 ended when he backed away to one that bounced just that touch more and got a thin edge through to keeper Prior.

By: Guardian

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GEORGETOWN–England won the first one-dayer after a calamitous misreading of the rain regulations by the West Indies coach. Australian John Dyson waved his batsmen in when they were offered the light with 27 needed from 22 balls. But Stuart Broad’s vital wicket had made all the difference, and England’s total of 270-7 gave them a one-run win under Duckworth-Lewis rules.

West Indies finished on 244-7, with the excellent Broad taking 3-41 as England scraped their first win of the winter. Paul Collingwood (69) and Owais Shah (62) did the bulk of the scoring for England after they had won an important toss on a slow wicket in Guyana. England’s bowlers generally did a fine job in defending the total, although a single Steve Harmison over which Shivnarine Chanderpaul smashed for 26 at a crucial late stage nearly undid so much of the good work. As it happened, West Indies were ahead of the “par” score under the Duckworth-Lewis system when the 47th over began, and the umpires hovered over their light meters.

But after Broad had sent down a wide and two legitimate deliveries, the second of which trapped Denesh Ramdin lbw, the batsmen were offered the light, and Dyson beckoned his batsmen into the pavilion. A confusing interlude ensued before a winner was declared, as Dyson approached the match officials with his set of rules. But he appeared to have forgotten to take into account the wicket of Ramdin which turned a West Indies win into an English one. A far more straightforward conclusion appeared on the cards for much of the West Indies chase. Once Broad had removed Chris Gayle early on – lbw to a ball that straightened off the wicket – England had an obvious initiative.

And despite the best efforts of Ramnaresh Sarwan (57) and Lendl Simmons (62), the required run rate climbed to 7.22 towards the end of a marathon 125-run stand which soaked up 27 overs. Simmons certainly rode his luck at times. He should have been run out by Ravi Bopara on 36, and after he had added a further 10 Broad badly misjudged a catch in the deep. In between there were some terrific shots, including a straight six off Gareth Batty and another big hit off Dimitri Mascarenhas which almost cleared the longest boundary on the ground. But of the two, it was Sarwan who was first to fall, tamely caught at short midwicket as he mistimed a flick off Collingwood.

By:  Guardian

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