http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 v West Indies –1st ODI – Match Recap – Centurion Bell propels England to massive 114-run win against Windies
While http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, with the second highest being an 89-run win in 1987.
Despite the hype surrounding his return to the West Indies squad, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806.
The West Indies went into the match confident that their ODI team would work wonders the Test squad had been unable to achieve, but after winning the toss and electing to field, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DJG-Sammy-c1382’s bowlers were unable to make any sizable dents in England’s top order.
They got off to a promising start, courtesy an early wicket – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Rampaul-c2233 sent Cook packing on duck in the very first over, with England at 0 for 1. However, Bell more than made up for Pietersen’s absence with a vital 126-run contribution – the fourth highest individual total by an England player against the West Indies, which went on to win him the Player of the Match award.
In addition to his century, Bell also established a crucial 2nd wicket 108-run stand with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sunil-Philip-Narine-c91869, marking the young spinner’s only wicket of the day – a disappointing performance, after his successes in the Indian Premier League.
Making a return to the national squad, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Eoin-Joseph-Gerard-Morgan-c56032 managed to chip in with a vital 21, along with establishing a 51-run partnership with Bell.
Both Bopara and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DJ-Bravo-c1379, whose low full-toss forced the English batsman to give wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin an easy catch in the 40th over.
However, by this point, England were at a safe 216 for 5, and the innings were rounded off nicely by wicketkeeper batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SCJ-Broad-c2465 (22), with the hosts finishing at 288 by the end of 50 overs.
The formidable 287 chase (calculated via the D/L method) proved to be too much for the West Indies batting order, which appeared insipid sans the talismanic Chris Gayle. The opening stand between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JM-Anderson-c1705 in the 5th over.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Smith-c90598, fresh from a good stint in the Indian Premier League, remained the saving grace of the Windies batting order, and their top scorer. He was joined by Ramdin (22) for a 70-run stand which got their side up to 95 by the 16th over, after which Smith became Bresnan’s first victim.
The partnership marked the peak of the tourists performance – after that, it was a downhill slide. Bresnan struck again two over later, dismissing Ramdin lbw, and Dwayne Bravo (8) and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KA-Pollard-c1754 (3) both gave their wickets away without a fight (to Steven Finn and Stuart Broad respectively), leaving their team at 127 for 5 by the 23rd over.
Samuels, who had been among the most consistent performers in the Test series, succumbed to Anderson in the 26th over, and the England bowlers continued to sweep the opposing batsmen off the crease, one after the other.
Skipper Sammy managed only 11 runs before his dismissal at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andre-Dwayne-Russell-c44235 (7) and Narine (0), while Swann dismissed Rampaul for 9, and the tourists finished all out for 172 by the 34th over.
With England having gained a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series, the next game on June 19 at the Kennington Oval in London poses a do-or-die situation for the visitors, who will be eager to see hard-hitter Gayle back in their ranks as they look to claim the series win that has eluded them for so long.
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