England and Wales Cricket Board
Whether they are in or out of the world cup, England certainly deserve the applause for having played some breath taking encounters in all of their six group matches. The Ashes heroes won yet another gripping task against the West Indies at the Chepauk with a run-out to what has been a nail biting finish.
England had won the toss and opted to bat first in a spinning track. The unexpected change was bringing in James Treadwell as the second spinner. The English openers started off in a remarkable fashion by playing out the first five overs and then building the pace. Just when they were about to Russell bowled Matt Prior ending the opening stand of 48 runs. Trott has had an amazing tournament so far and struck some severe blows to race to 40’s with seven boundaries in no time. Russell was the culprit but removed the skipper Strauss for 31. Roach’s second spell sparked with a beauty by cleaning the stumps of Ian Bell and that set track for the Carribean to gain momentum. England were down in 151 for 6 in 32nd over. Luke Wright then steadied the ship with some assistance from Treadwell but a chaotic ball watching removed the tail-ender. Luke Wright was unable to cope up the pressure and went down before making a valuable 44. Even though some luck waved past England’s way through edges and wides all they could manage was a mere 243.
You don’t expect a batsman of Gayle’s caliber to sit quietly for long. He raced his team’s total with huge sixes and sparkling boundaries. He thwarted Tremlett for 18 runs in his first over but it was Treadwell who set the game to turn by removing the openers and the in-form Bravo. Strauss decision to bring in Bopara paid off immediately as he cleaned up the West Indies skipper who’s little cameo innings came to an end. He continued applying the pressure with a maiden over and by scalping the wicket keeper Thomas and it was game on for England. Pollard’s hard hitting did not take long and neither did Swann’s chance to enjoy the pitch. But the game was nearly lost for England as Russell took over Pollard to 3 huge sixes and Sarwan’s steady batting left the England players dejected. West Indies now had only 22 to win but it was once again Treadwell who put the brakes. Swann saved his best his last over when he scalped the price wicket of Sarwan and an ambitious Roach fell to a brilliant catch by Tremlett. England had got 3 wickets for 4 runs in 20 balls. Trott was unlucky when his catch at the ropes was called a six but he was determined to move ahead and a superb throw from him to Prior ended the match in winning ways for England.
England will still have to wait for other matches to secure a quarter final but not before they have played their hearts out in all their group matches. Broad’s tweet “3 more games to win a WC” simply shows how much this win means to them and they certainly deserve the honors.
Tags: England, West Indies, World Cup
