West Indies upstage England
West Indies edged out defending champions England by 15 runs in an
exciting finish to the World Twenty20 Super Eight group one match at
Pallekele stadium on Thursday.
Chasing a daunting 180-run target, England came close with Eoin
Morgan (71 not out) and Alex Hales (68) putting on a resolute 107-run
partnership for the third wicket but in the end they fell short.
England had lost Craig Kieswetter and Luke Wright for first over
ducks but Hales, who hit five boundaries and two sixes off his 51 balls,
and Morgan's 36-ball knock, with five sixes and four boundaries, defied
West Indies's four-pronged spin attack.
England needed 125 runs in their last 10 overs but Morgan and Hales
paced the innings well before Marlon Samuels bowled an excellent last
over, conceding only eight runs.
West Indian captain Darren Sammy said spinners made the win possible.
“We backed ourselves to set a target and the openers got us going
well,” said Sammy.
“With (Sunil) Narine, Samuel, Chris (Gayle), we decided to maximise
our spinners against England and it worked out.” England skipper Stuart
Broad was left disappointed. “We had to regroup, obviously losing two
wickets in that first over hurt us but we showed how good the wicket
was. We were quite happy with our effort with the ball and I think we're
disappointed not to win tonight,” said Broad.
West Indies were set on their way for a big total by openers Johnson
Charles and Gayle. Charles smashed three sixes and 10 well-timed
boundaries in his 56-ball 84 while Gayle hit four sixes and six fours in
his 35-ball 58.
West Indies had raced to 103 by the 11th over when Gayle was finally
out, caught by Steven Finn at long-on off as the left-hander tried to
hit Graeme Swann out of the ground.
Three of his sixes came in one over from left-arm spinner Samit
Patel.
But Gayle's dismissal allowed England to pull back as they dismissed
Marlon Samuels (two) and Kieron Pollard (one) in quick succession, with
Broad claiming one wicket besides bowling a maiden over.
Charles finally holed out at mid-on, missing a low Jade Dernbach full
toss and was caught by Jonathon Bairstow.
Broad was the pick of England bowlers with 2-26.
AFP |