England triumph after Windies blunder
West Indies' blunder mirrors South Africa's mis-calculation of the Duckworth-Lewis method which saw them eliminated from the 2003 World Cup
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Friday, 20, Mar 2009 10:37
England have won the first one-day international against the West Indies under the Duckworth-Lewis method after a bizarre finish in Guyana.
The tourists triumphed by one run after the Windies batsmen left the field because of bad light thinking they were ahead under the Duckworth-Lewis method. But coach John Dyson was then handed a piece of paper which showed they were actually behind by one run, gifting Andrew Strauss' side victory.
West Indies were 244-7 after 46.2 overs before accepting the umpires' offer to go off for bad light with Lendl Simmons top-scoring with 62.
England had set 271 for victory thanks to 69 from Paul Collingwood and
62 from Owais Shah.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, England made a slow start at four runs an over. Skipper Strauss was dismissed for 15 when he hit a delivery from Daren Powell straight to Dwayne Bravo at backward-point.
Kevin Pietersen (17) attempted to crank up the tempo and smashed a six off Bravo, but he was out the next ball when Powell took a catch at mid-on.
Shah and Bopara steadied the ship with a partnership of 53 before the latter was trapped lbw by Miller for 43.
Shah held his nerve to pass 50, before he was eventually out for 62 by Bravo when his attempted slog-sweep was caught by Denesh Ramdin.
In the next over, dangerman Dimitri Mascarenhas was trapped lbw by
Kieron Pollard for a duck to leave the tourists on 216-5.
Paul Collingwood kept England's innings on course by bringing up his 21st ODI fifty off 58 balls. But the Durham all-rounder failed to last the distance when he was caught by Bravo in the deep off the bowling of Pollard.
And Stuart Broad was the last wicket to fall after being run out for eight to leave Matt Prior stranded on 26 not out.
In reply, the hosts were dealt an early blow when skipper Chris Gayle (2) was controversially adjudged lbw to give Stuart Broad his first wicket.
But they looked to be cruising to victory when Ramnaresh Sarwan and Simmons put on a century partnership albeit at a slow pace. The in-form Sarwan was eventually dismissed for 57 when he clipped a delivery from Collingwood straight to Straus at mid-wicket in the 31st over.
Three overs later, Simmons departed when his attempted slog for Gareth Barry was caught by James Anderson in the deep to leave the Windies on 152-3.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul set about increasing the run rate with a brutal 46 off 30 balls before his sweep shot was caught by Strauss to give Broad his second wicket. In the next over, Bravo was caught by Bopara off Anderson to leave them five wickets down.
As it began to get dark with the Windies needing 29 from three overs, Kieron Pollard's explosive innings of 42 came to an end when he hooked a delivery from Anderson straight to Steve Harmison in the deep.
Two overs from the end, Ramdin was trapped lbw by Broad for 11 to leave the Windies behind on the Duckworth-Lewis method for the first time. But thinking they were still ahead, the two jubilant batsmen went for bad light before being told the bad news.
The next ODI is on Sunday in Guyana.