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England crumble
in their chase again; Windies clinch the series! |
July 07, 2007 (Link to
Scorecard)
England for the second
time in a row have succumbed to the pressure of
chasing a big target and thus lost the 3-ODI
Series to West Indies 1-2. A sparkling innings
from Runako Morton and a great bowling effort
from Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards gave England
absolutely no chance as they went down without a
fight by 93 runs!
Chris Gayle won the toss
in this 3rd One Dayer at Trent Bridge in
Nottingham and anchored the Windies innings with
a responsible 82 from 126 balls. His innings had
8 fours and had batted till the slog overs. He
lost his opening partner Devon Smith in the 3rd
over itself but found an able partner in the
inform Shiv Chanderpaul with whom he had put on
77 runs. Chanderpaul followed his last match
century with 33 from 47 which also had a six
before he was dismissed by Plunkett. Along with
Monty Panesar, Plunkett was the other change in
the English line up replacing Michael Yardy and
Ryan Sidebottom. Marlon Samuels missed out today
scoring just the 9 runs but he gave the
opportunity for Runako Morton to show his
potential. The man from the tiny island of
Nevis, made his presence felt while allowing
Gayle add up 85 for the fourth wicket. After
Gayle's fall, Bravo sustained the momentum with
a blazing 24-ball 42 which had half a dozen
fours and which in turn took the total to an
awesome 289 for 5. Morton remained unbeaten on
82 from 89 with 6 fours and a six. Plunkett was
the most successful bowler with 3 for 59. Monty
Panesar was used for just the six overs by
Collingwood in which he was taken for 28 runs.
In their chase, England
batted themselves out of the contest in just 18
overs as they lost four wickets with 72 on the
board. That included a triple blow from Daren
Powell with Kevin Pietersen being one of the
victims. It was a second ball duck for KP who
hasn't scored even a single meaningful score
after the test series! England's big wicket was
that of Ian Bell who was promising in his 27
from 45 with 4 fours before getting done in by
Fidel Edwards. The resurrection act came from
Owais Shah and Collingwood. But when both the
batsmen fell at a relatively same time, it was
curtains completely down on the match and also
the series. Owais Shah had got 51 from 66 with 4
fours and a six while Collingwood got 44 in 50
leaving England at 162 for 6 in the 34th.
England were bowled out in just 44.2 overs for
196. Powell got the Man of the Match for his 4
for 40 in 10 overs which also contained two
maidens. Fidel Edwards, the number 4 bowler used
was superbly economical with his 3 for 30 in 10.
The Man of the Series went to the consistent
Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
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