Related Links : West Indies in England 2007 : Scorecard
Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s brilliant seventh ODI century has helped West Indies to beat England by 61 runs and therefore stay alive in the 3-ODI Series. The second ODI at Edgbaston was also interrupted by rain, but a full match was possible with England falling apart in their chase of a big total. The defeat for England came after a poor strategic decision of leaving out their strike bowler Monty Panesar for this game.
West Indies got off to a good start at 50 for no loss in the 9th over but lost both its openers at almost the same phase of the game to be reduced to 67 for 2. Captain Chris Gayle was looking dangerous in his knock of 36 from 40 which had three sixes! From 67 for 2, West Indies were given a perfect launching pad by a huge 175-run stand between Chanderpaul and Samuels for the next wicket. For the first time Chanderpaul got some serious support at the other end and that meant a good score on the board to challenge England. Samuels made 77 from 104 with 7 fours and a six while Chanderpaul remained right till the end staying not out on 116 from 122 balls which had 9 fours and three sixes. England just couldn’t get any breakthroughs in the middle overs that left West Indies march to a score of 278 for 5. James Anderson who had bowled three maidens in his first spell got his figures spoilt to 1 for 78 in 10!
The English chase was wrecked by Daren Powell and Ravi Rampaul, the two opening bowlers. England found themselves at the wrong end in terms of the asking rate and also the wickets. They lost Kevin Pietersen once again without a serious contribution to be down at 64 for 3 in 13 overs. Wicket Keeper and opener Matt Prior worked hard for his fifty, getting 52 from 73 with 3 fours and a six but couldn’t pilot the innings for a longer duration of time. Owais Shah did his best to make a fight when England were 117 for 5, but eventually it was a match that slipped out of his abilities. Shah made 45 from 64 with 2 fours and a six before falling to Ravi Rampaul. England were bowled out in just 46 overs for 217 with Rampaul finishing with 4 for 41 in his 10. He was complemented by the other two fast bowlers Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards. Bravo was outstanding in giving away just 24 runs in his 7 overs. The Man of the Match without any doubt had gone to Shiv Chanderpaul.