More woe for England in the Caribbean
Ansrew Strauss played his first Twenty20 match for England in three years
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Sunday, 15, Mar 2009 09:17
England have suffered a six-wicket defeat to the West Indies in the Twenty20 international in Trinidad.
After being put into bat, the tourists were skittled out for 121 with opener Steve Davies top-scoring with 27, while skipper Andrew Strauss was run out for 22.
In reply, the Windies coasted to victory with two overs to spare to gain the psychological edge ahead of the start of the one-day series on Friday.
And with the Twenty20 World Championships taking place this summer, Andy Flower's men will need a vast improvement quickly.
They made a decent start with Ravi Bopara reaching 13 off 11 balls before he had his middle stump removed by Lionel Baker.
Wicket-keeper Davies showed his international credentials with a quick-fire 27 before being bowled by Dwayne Bravo to leave England on 55-2.
That wicket sparked a spectacular collapse with Kevin Pietersen (12) and Owais Shah (6) both removed by spinner Suleiman Benn in the space of three overs.
Paul Collingwood was soon on his way back to the pavilion for 14 after skying a slower delivery from Darren Sammy to Simmons to leave the tourists reeling on 96-5.
England's running between the wickets did not help their cause as Dimitri Mascarenhas (0) and Strauss were both involved in mix-ups and were run out.
The tail provided little resistance with Fidel Edwards taking the last wicket of Stuart Broad (2) as England were bowled out with five balls remaining.
In reply, the home side suffered an early setback when Andre Fletcher (2) was dismissed by Broad in the second over.
After replacing the erratic Amjad Khan, James Anderson removed Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 12 to leave the Windies on 45-2.
That brought Simmons to the crease and he and Sarwan put on a 50-run partnership, with the latter bringing up his half-century which included four boundaries and two sixes.
Sarwan was eventually dismissed for 59 after Khan re-arranged his stumps to leave the Windies needing 17 runs away from victory.
Khan grabbed his second wicket when Pietersen took a smart catch at square leg to dismiss Bravo. But that only delayed the inevitable as Kieron Pollard smacked a boundary off the next ball to seal victory.