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July 01, 2007 (Link to Scorecard)

An inspired spell of fast bowling of 5 for 45 from Fidel Edwards went in vain because of a lackluster batting show from the West Indies in the first ODI at Lord's. England crushed the Windies by a huge margin of 79 runs after bowling them out for a paltry 146 under 40 overs. Windies have lost the test series and are now in a must win situation in the Second ODI to keep the 3-ODI Series alive.

Put into bat first by Chris Gayle, England struggled to get to 225 as they lost all their wickets. Ian Bell, who just made it to the side recovering from his injury showed his value to the side by being the top scorer with 56 from 75 with two fours. He shared a partnership of 52 with Kevin Pietersen to lay the foundation for England before rain had halted proceedings for an hour or so. Pietersen made 33 from 47 getting just the one four. England lost their rhythm after the rain break losing six wickets for 44 runs in about seven overs. The other significant contributors for England were opener Matthew Prior with a 65-ball 34 and Owais Shah with 42 from 38. Fidel Edwards picked his career best figures with 5 for 45 in his 10 overs.

In their chase, Windies lost as many as four wickets to the new ball which got them out of the contest. Chanderpaul and Bravo tried resurrecting the innings but Bravo's resistance came down in the 17th over leaving Windies at 74 for 5. No other lower order batsmen excepting Ravi Rampaul (24) had stuck there along with Chanderpaul. Windies folded to 146 with Chanderpaul staying unbeaten on a patient and helpless 53 from 100 balls. Young seamer Stuart Broad was the most successful with three wickets while the opening bowlers Anderson and Plunkett chipped in with two wickets each. The only consolation for West Indies was the Man of the Match award to Fidel Edwards.

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