Related Links : West Indies in England 2007 : Scorecard
England for the second time in a row have succumbed to the pressure of chasing a big target and thus lost the 3-ODI Series to West Indies 1-2. A sparkling innings from Runako Morton and a great bowling effort from Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards gave England absolutely no chance as they went down without a fight by 93 runs!
Chris Gayle won the toss in this 3rd One Dayer at Trent Bridge in Nottingham and anchored the Windies innings with a responsible 82 from 126 balls. His innings had 8 fours and had batted till the slog overs. He lost his opening partner Devon Smith in the 3rd over itself but found an able partner in the inform Shiv Chanderpaul with whom he had put on 77 runs. Chanderpaul followed his last match century with 33 from 47 which also had a six before he was dismissed by Plunkett. Along with Monty Panesar, Plunkett was the other change in the English line up replacing Michael Yardy and Ryan Sidebottom. Marlon Samuels missed out today scoring just the 9 runs but he gave the opportunity for Runako Morton to show his potential. The man from the tiny island of Nevis, made his presence felt while allowing Gayle add up 85 for the fourth wicket. After Gayle’s fall, Bravo sustained the momentum with a blazing 24-ball 42 which had half a dozen fours and which in turn took the total to an awesome 289 for 5. Morton remained unbeaten on 82 from 89 with 6 fours and a six. Plunkett was the most successful bowler with 3 for 59. Monty Panesar was used for just the six overs by Collingwood in which he was taken for 28 runs.
In their chase, England batted themselves out of the contest in just 18 overs as they lost four wickets with 72 on the board. That included a triple blow from Daren Powell with Kevin Pietersen being one of the victims. It was a second ball duck for KP who hasn’t scored even a single meaningful score after the test series! England’s big wicket was that of Ian Bell who was promising in his 27 from 45 with 4 fours before getting done in by Fidel Edwards. The resurrection act came from Owais Shah and Collingwood. But when both the batsmen fell at a relatively same time, it was curtains completely down on the match and also the series. Owais Shah had got 51 from 66 with 4 fours and a six while Collingwood got 44 in 50 leaving England at 162 for 6 in the 34th. England were bowled out in just 44.2 overs for 196. Powell got the Man of the Match for his 4 for 40 in 10 overs which also contained two maidens. Fidel Edwards, the number 4 bowler used was superbly economical with his 3 for 30 in 10. The Man of the Series went to the consistent Shivnarine Chanderpaul.