England suffer agonising defeat
Andrew Strauss made 105 which included seven boundaries
Also In The News
|
A late drop-goal from Ronan O'Gara has given Ireland a 17-15 win over Wales and seen them claim their first Grand Slam in 61 years. |  |
Sunday, 22, Mar 2009 09:50
England have lost the second one-day international against the West Indies by 21 runs in Guyana despite a ton from Andrew Strauss.
The Windies made 264-8 in their 50 overs to win after an unbeaten century from Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Strauss hit his first ODI century in four years but was dismissed in the closing stages as the tourists were skittled out for 243.
The series is now level at 1-1 ahead of the third ODI on Friday.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, the Windies found themselves in trouble early on.
England took two wickets in three overs with James Anderson first removing Lendl Simmons for a duck. Then, skipper Chris Gayle chopped the ball onto his stumps after a quick-fire 20 to give Anderson his second wicket.
But once again it was Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chanderpaul who frustrated the tourists. The pair put on a century stand with local boy Sarwan bringing up his 32nd ODI fifty in the 24th over.
Fellow local boy Chanderpaul then reached the 54th one-day half century of his career with a single off Steve Harmison.
Sarwan looked to be heading for another century but chipped a delivery from Anderson to Paul Collingwood at mid-off to depart for 74, and leave the Windies on 157-3.
Kieron Pollard (9) followed him soon after lofting a delivery from Dimitri Mascarenhas to Keven Pietersen on the boundary rope in the 39th over.
But Chanderpaul held his nerve to bring up his tenth ODI ton in front of his home crowd. The Windies then lost two wickets in quick succession with Dwayne Bravo (19) dismissed by Mascarenhas while Denesh Ramdin (1) fell to Collingwood before there was a short rain delay.
The home side lost two more wickets when play resumed with Collingwood dismissing Darren Sammy and Nikita Miller to finish with 3-49.
Despite being troubled by a hamstring injury, Chanderpaul soldiered on to finish unbeaten on 112 from 134 balls which included ten boundaries.
Chasing 265 to win, England made a similarly stuttering start with Ravi Bopara out for 18 after being bowled by Lionel Baker.
England then slumped to 36-2 when Pietersen was cleanly bowled by Fidel Edwards for 12.
Strauss and Owais Shah put on a 50 partnership before another mini collapse with the latter trapped lbw by Bravo for 22, while Collingwood fell three balls later for one.
Victory looked a long way off when Matt Prior was dismissed by Sammy for two to leave England on 97-5.
While Strauss steadied the ship and reached his 50 in the 32nd over, wickets continued to tumble with Mascarenhas run out for 29 and Broad out for three.
Another suicidal run out saw Gareth Batty run out for five to leave the score on 185-8.
Harmison showed some resistance in his partnership with Strauss to leave England needing 54 runs off 36 balls.
And Strauss helped the cause by reaching his ton, his first since June 2005, before the rain came down again.
Once play resumed Strauss, was bowled by Sammy in the 46th over for 105 off 129 deliveries.
Harmison and Anderson battled on before the latter was bowled by Pollard for eight to seal victory for the Windies and make up for Friday's embarrassing loss.