West Indies edge Twenty20 thriller
Collingwood tastes defeat in first game as England captain
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Thursday, 28, Jun 2007 09:11
A sparkling knock of 79 from Paul Collingwood was not enough to prevent England succumbing to a 15-run defeat in the first of two Twenty20 fixtures against the West Indies at the Oval this evening.
Replying to a big score of 208-7 posted by West Indies, England's newly-appointed limited-overs captain fought back strongly after England had slipped to the perilous position of 101-6.
The Durham right-hander hit a number of exquisite shots to give his side what would have been a highly-unlikely victory, skipping down the wicket on numerous occasions to punch the West Indian bowlers over mid-on for six.
However, an accurate penultimate over from composed left-armer Ravi Rampaul left England still needing 25 runs off the last six balls, with Collingwood eventually run-out chasing an unlikely total.
England's bowling attack had started tidily enough, with James Anderson picking up the wicket of captain Chris Gayle for five as he looked to pull a pitched-up delivery.
However, a succession of belligerent innings' from the West Indies middle-order provided the necessary catalyst, with Devon Smith (51) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (41) making essential contributions in what turned out to be the tourist's first victory of the summer.
Devon Samuel played the stand-out innings of the evening though, hitting the ball to all parts of the ground in an innings of 61 from just 34 balls.
The innings was given further impetus as Samuels enjoyed a stand of 59 in 4.1 overs with Denesh Ramdin, timing one ball off his legs so sweetly that it sailed over the Oval's high stands.