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Cricket

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

Times

September 26, 2004

England let Windies clinch dramatic win

Simon Wilde, Cricket Correspondent

Late-order heroics from the West Indies snatch victory away from England in a frantic end to the Champions Trophy

England have travelled so far in the past 18 months, yet last night they found themselves back where they started: improbably thwarted by the heroic defiance of a ninth-wicket pair.

When Australia’s Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel knocked off the last 70 runs to beat England at Port Elizabeth and in effect dump them out of the World Cup, it triggered a revolution in English cricket.

Nasser Hussain resigned as captain and retired from one-day cricket, along with other veterans such as Alec Stewart, Andrew Caddick and Nick Knight, and England began an ambitious rebuilding programme under Michael Vaughan, the fruits of which have been so evident during this longest summer.

Dismissing predictions that his team might slip up after the epic conquest of Australia earlier in the week, Vaughan said his team would have no difficulty vaulting the final hurdle of an unprecedentedly successful four-month season. And when they reduced West Indies to 147 for eight after 34 overs, he appeared to be right.

He must have been able to smell the polish on the Champions Trophy and the ink on the $300,000 winners’ cheque. But as the longest cricket season in history went down to the last flickerings of evening light, he and England reckoned without the resolve of the Barbadian pair of Courtney Browne — Lambeth-born — and Ian Bradshaw. Browne, 33, was a controversial selection for the tournament ahead of the talented Carlton Baugh, but his experience proved invaluable.

A target of 71 off 98 balls when the pair came together was not impossible, provided they played sensible, conventional cricket. That is precisely what they did. Nothing flashy, nothing silly, nothing in fact that West Indies sides of late have routinely done when they fritter away wickets.

Instead of playing like Chris Gayle, they stirred up a quiet storm simply by stealing singles, putting away the few bad balls that came along and stoutly seeing off a hostile second spell from Steve Harmison that touched a tournament-best top speed of 96.9mph.

Ever so politely, they mugged England in Kennington’s descending gloom, lightening their wallets and trophy cabinet and denying them their first big one-day trophy. It was West Indies’ first important one-day prize since a more illustrious generation of Caribbean cricketers, led by Clive Lloyd, crushed England at Lord’s in 1979.

Browne hit only two of the 55 balls he faced for four, Bradshaw only five of the 51 he received, and each cut one in what proved the final over, the penultimate one of the innings bowled by Alex Wharf, who had hitherto shown great discipline on a big stage.

The over began with 12 needed off 12 balls, but with fielders struggling to detect where the white ball was going, the pair threw the bat with more assurance. They had been offered the light with 35 wanted off seven overs, but admirably opted to stay on.

England need feel no shame. At various times they had looked destined to come out on the wrong end, but thanks to a century of real character from Marcus Trescothick, they first posted a working score of 217 and then defended it with tigerish bowling supported by sometimes brilliant fielding.

Trescothick, who passed 1,000 international runs for the season, scored his eighth one-day century, equalling Graham Gooch’s England record. He also took a wicket and a smart catch at midwicket on a day memorable for athletic fielding.

With England needing wickets if they were to prevail, Harmison and Andrew Flintoff stepped up to the plate for the umpteenth time this year. This pair, close friends whose careers have blossomed as one, scythed through the top half of the innings to leave West Indies tottering at 80 for five. Harmison underlined his class by fighting off what appeared to be a bout of cramp to deliver the wickets of Wavell Hinds and the dangerous Gayle in an opening spell that took his haul for England for the summer to an astonishing 60 scalps.

Flintoff then struck three times in six overs, the wicket of Ramnaresh Sarwan courtesy of arguably the catch of the tournament by Andrew Strauss at second slip. Flintoff also removed Brian Lara on his last appearance for West Indies in this country, the fourth time he had dismissed him this summer and revenge for Lara dismissing him earlier in the day with a catch low and one-handed to his left almost as good as Strauss’s.

With the ball wet, Vaughan opted not to bowl Ashley Giles at all, instead turning to the medium-pace of Trescothick and Paul Collingwood, who took three wickets between them, including that of Chanderpaul, who, after battling for 25 overs, chipped a catch to midwicket.

Conditions for batting were rarely easy and Trescothick was wise to forsake his usual aggression. After a quiet start to his innings, he shaped to go into top gear, but the loss of Vikram Solanki, Vaughan and Strauss — brilliantly run out by Dwayne Bravo — sent him back into his shell. He tried to play conventionally for the rest of the innings and largely succededed. Like Vaughan, Lara found gentle medium-pace the most effective on a wicket deadened by the rain and Hinds finished with career-best figures of three for 24.

Well though Trescothick played, England would not have had so many to defend but for another gutsy innings from Giles, who helped him post 63 for the eighth wicket. But for tailend heroics, this effort was to be dramatically dwarfed.

(posted 7123 days ago)

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