Guyana glory for Windies

Strauss century in vain as Chanderpaul is the toast of Guyana again

By Joe Drabble   Last updated: 23rd March 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Guyana glory for Windies

Chanderpaul: Batting masterclass

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Second One Day International
Guyana
West Indies 264-8 Innings Complete (S Chanderpaul 112 no, R R Sarwan 74) v England 243 (A J Strauss 105)
West Indies beat England by 21 runs

Local hero Shivnarine Chanderpaul led from the front as West Indies bounced back from their farcical defeat in the opening one-day international with a 21-run victory over England in Guyana.

In a match dominated by brilliantly crafted centuries from Chanderpaul and Andrew Srauss, it was West Indies who snatched a victory which ties the series at 1-1 with three games remaining.

Chanderpaul returned to his roots to hit an unbeaten 112 off 126 balls - the left-hander ably supported by compatriot Ramnaresh Sarwan, who made 74 as the hosts amassed 264-8 after winning the toss.

Captain Strauss led the England run-chase single handedly by scoring 105 off 129 balls, but when he was clean bowled by Kieron Pollard in the 47th over that all but ended England's chances of victory.

Only Owais Shah (22 off 44 balls) and Dimitri Mascarenhas (29 off 36) offered any support to Strauss as England fell an agonising 21 runs short.

Just two days earlier Chanderpaul had hit 26 off one over from Steve Harmison, but this was a more measured innings where he was content to allow Ramnaresh Sarwan play the more aggressive role for a large part of their 133-run partnership.

West Indies' most experienced pair had come together after Jimmy Anderson had removed openers Lendl Simmons and Chris Gayle during a superb opening spell of 6-1-15-2 which left West Indies struggling on 24 for two.

The pair progressed steadily until they reached the turning point of the match on 80 for two when wicketkeeper Matt Prior, standing up to the stumps to prevent Chanderpaul coming down the pitch to the medium pace of Dimitri Mascarenhas, dropped a thin edge at around knee height.

Experience

It was the moment which effectively cost England the match with Chanderpaul and Sarwan using all their vast experience to put West Indies into a position where they should have posted an even more challenging total.

Their stand was broken when Sarwan chipped the fourth ball of the batting power play from Anderson to Paul Collingwood at mid-off, but England knew Chanderpaul was the key wicket and frustrations almost boiled over four overs later.

Desperate to end Chanderpaul's resistance, seamer Stuart Broad must have come close to disciplinary action from match referee Javagal Srinath for constantly questioning umpire Aleem Dar during a 10-ball over including four wides.

Strauss, called over by the umpire, wisely sent Broad out to the boundary to cool down and three late wickets from Collingwood's medium pace prevented West Indies powering to an even bigger score and limiting them to 57 runs from the final 10 overs.

England's reply mirrored the start to West Indies' innings with Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen falling inside the first eight overs, both playing on trying expansive shots during the first 10 overs of fielding restrictions.

Strauss, overlooked for one-day cricket by England's selectors for two years, patiently attempted to rebuild the innings and added 50 runs with Owais Shah in a similar manner to Sarwan and Chanderpaul.

But no-one from England's top six could keep him company long enough to build any momentum and the rest failed to reach past 22, leaving Strauss and the middle order with too big a retrieval task.

Strauss was also fortunate, dropped by Darren Sammy at slip before he had scored and again when he offered a relatively straightforward return catch on 28.

Fielding fumbles

Unlike Chanderpaul, however, Strauss was unable to make West Indies pay for their fielding fumbles with Mascarenhas, who made a spirited 29 off 36 balls, finishing as England's second highest scorer.

Any hopes England had of securing another surprise victory were effectively ended when Strauss inadvertently ran out Mascarenhas with 15 overs remaining, leaving the England captain needing to marshal the lower order and also weigh up when best to take the batting power play.

He finally took the power play with six overs remaining and reached his third one-day international century but had his leg-stump removed by Kieron Pollard with England still needing 36 from 20 balls.

Pollard also finished off England's resistance by bowling last man Anderson with 10 deliveries remaining, but it was local hero Chanderpaul - and the tourists' failure to take a vital catch - that turned the momentum back in West Indies' favour.