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  Cricket

West Indies win series at last

 
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

West Indies held on grimly for a draw in the fifth and final Test yesterday to secure a series victory over England for the first time in 11 years.

West Indies were set 240 for victory from a minimum of 66 overs after England, leading by two runs on first innings, declared their second innings on 237 for six during the lunch interval on the last day.

As usual, West Indies sent their fans into a state of panic with the kind of slipshod batting that had typified them in previous series before they settled down to finish on 114 for eight in their second innings when time expired at Queen's Park Oval.

West Indies won

The result meant that West Indies won the five-Test series 1-0, following an innings and 23-run victory in the opening Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica, where they bowled England out for their third-lowest total in Tests of 51.

This was followed by the aborted second Test at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua and drawn Tests at the Antigua Recreation Ground and Kensington Oval.

The result also gave West Indies their first series victory over a side above them in the world rankings for six years.

Left-hander Ryan Hinds hit the top score of 20 and anchored the top-half of the batting after West Indies slipped to 58 for three.

But Denesh Ramdin batted for two hours to farm the bowling and anchor the bottom half of the West Indies batting in the face of a desperate England bid for victory.

West Indies made a shaky start to their innings, as they reached 78 for three at tea.

West Indies lost Lendl Simmons for eight, Devon Smith for 17 and Ramnaresh Sarwan for 14 to slump to 58 for three about half-hour before the break.

Simmons was dubiously caught at second slip off James Anderson - a dismissal which television replays showed there were plenty of questions about the legitimacy of Paul Collingwood's catch.

Well-flighted delivery

Smith was adjudged lbw slogging at and missing a well-flighted delivery from off-spinner Graeme Swann, who then had Man-of-the-Series Sarwan caught at slip playing back and across to a ball of no great merit.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul joined Hinds and they defied England for the remainder of the session to enhance West Indies' chances of earning the draw.

After the break, West Indies continued to fight, but they were soon in trouble when they slid to 90 for six with 23 overs still remaining.

Chanderpaul was adjudged lbw for six playing back and across the line to Swann, Brendan Nash was also lbw to Anderson for one and Ryan Hinds was dubiously caught at slip off Monty Panesar.

TV replays showed the ball ricocheted from the pad, but West Indies could not appeal the decision since they used all two of their referrals.

Lame West Indies captain Chris Gayle arrived at the crease with Devon Smith as his runner and spent close to an hour at the crease. Significantly, he faced 42 balls and defied England for almost 14 overs with Ramdin to inch West Indies closer to safety.

But he was also adjudged lbw to Panesar for four, leaving Ramdin and the three fast bowlers - Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards and Lionel Baker - to take West Indies over the finish line.

Powell and Edwards already had the experience of batting through the closing overs in a tense finish at the ARG and Ramdin has new-found confidence in his batting following his maiden hundred in the previous Test, so they soaked up the pressure and got the job done.

Pick of the England bowlers

Swann was the pick of the England bowlers with three wickets for 13 runs from 21 overs, Jimmy Anderson collected three for 24 from 16 overs and Monty Panesar took two for 34 from 20 overs.

Before lunch, West Indies bowled without discipline and Kevin Pietersen raced to his 16th Test hundred of 102, as England chased quick runs to build a competitive lead in their bid for a series-levelling victory.

West Indies knew that England would hunt quick runs in the morning period to give them a chance of victory and a share of the five-Test series after they resumed on 80 for three.

But outside of employing a number of time-wasting tactics, the home team did very little to stem the flow of runs and Pietersen reached his 100 from just 88 balls when he clipped an over-pitched delivery from Baker through backward square leg for a single.

He became the seventh batsman to score a hundred in the Test - the fourth time it has happened in history - and 17th in the series before Edwards removed him.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND 1st Innings 546 for six declared

(P. Collingwood 161,A. Strauss 142, M. Prior 131 not out)

WEST INDIES 1st Innings 544

(S. Chanderpaul 147 not out, B. Nash 109,C. Gayle 102)

ENGLAND 2nd Innings

(overnight 80 for three)

A. Strauss c and bGayle 14
A. Cook c wkpr Ramdin b Hinds 24
O. Shah c wkpr Ramdin b Baker 1
K. Pietersen c (sub) Bravo b Edwards 102
P. Collingwood c and b Hinds 9
+M. Prior b Baker 61
S. Broad not out 13
Extras (b2, lb6, w1, nb4) 13
TOTAL (6 wkts decl'd) 237

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Strauss), 2-27 (Shah), 3-72 (Cook), 4-101 (Collingwood), 5-207 (+Prior), 6-237 (Pietersen).

Bowling: Edwards 11.4-1-67-1 (nb4, w1); Baker 8-1-39-2;Gayle 3-0-16-1; Hinds 8-0-57-2; Simmons 5-0-29-0; Nash 3-0-21-0.

Overs: 38.4

WEST INDIES 2nd Innings (target: 240 runs)

D.S. Smith lbw b Swann
17
L. Simmons c Collingwood b Anderson 8
R. Sarwan c Collingwood b Swann 14
R. Hinds c Collingwood b Panesar 20
S. Chanderpaul lbw b Swann 6
B. Nash lbw b Anderson 1
+D. Ramdin not out 17
C. Gayle lbw b Panesar 4
D. Powell b Anderson 0
F. Edwards not out 1
Extras (b17, lb6, w1, nb2) 26
TOTAL (8 wkts) 114

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Simmons), 2-31 (Smith), 3-58 (Sarwan), 4-80 (Chanderpaul), 5-85 (Nash), 6-90 (Hinds), 7-107 (Gayle), 8-109 (Powell).

Bowling: Anderson 16-7-24-3; Broad 5-3-9-0; Swann 21-13-13-3; Khan 4-0-11-0 (nb2, w1); Panesar 19.5-9-34-3.

Result: Match drawn

Series: West Indies win five-Test series 1-0.

Umpires: D. Harper, R. Tiffin, TV Replays: Aleem Dar, Reserve: Clyde Duncan.

Match Referee: A. Hurst

Man-of-the-Match: Matt Prior (England)

Man-of-the-Series: Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies)

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