Ton-up Strauss can’t save England

Philip Mitchell

Andrew Strauss hit his third one-day international hundred, but England still went down to a 21-run defeat at the hands of the West Indies at the Guyana National Stadium on Sunday.

The captain made 105 from 129 balls as England, chasing 265 for victory, were dismissed for 243 in 48.2 overs to allow West Indies to draw level at 1-1 in the five-match series.

The third and fourth matches will be contested at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Friday and Sunday, with the final game set for St. Lucia on April 6.

England had won the opener here on Friday when West Indies coach John Dyson embarrassingly miscalculated the Duckworth-Lewis method and handed his opponents a one-run win.

“We lost too many wickets too early and we were always behind the eight ball,” admitted Strauss.

“We needed things to go our way in the last powerplay but with the medium pacers bowling, it wasn’t easy to get the ball away. It was getting lower and slower, so we had to take risks to get runs.

“It would have been nice to have gone 2-0 in the series, but we have a good chance of winning in Barbados where the wicket might suit us better.”

West Indies skipper Chris Gayle said his team had a point to prove.

“We were really down after what happened on Friday,” said Gayle.

“We wanted to give the crowd something to cheer about and I want to commend the guys for the way they played.” Man-of-the-match Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored his 10th one-day hundred of 112 not out from 134 balls to lead West Indies to 264 for eight from their 50 overs.

Strauss reached his hundred from 126 balls with a drive through cover for two off Kieron Pollard, but England lost wickets s teadily.

Their best stands were 50 between Strauss and Owais Shah for the third wicket, and 59 between the England captain and Dmitri Mascarenhas for the sixth.

PROVIDENCE, Guyana, AFP