A fine century by Shivnarine Chanderpaul was what lifted the West Indies’ spirits after the fiasco of the first ODI. Chanderpaul’s unbeaten 112 powered West Indies to a total of 264 for 8, and subsequently to a 12 wicket win as England were bowled out 21 runs short of the target. Andrew Strauss provided England’s answer to Chanderpaul with a gritty 105; his first since 2005; but all in vain.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, West Indies lost two early wickets: Gayle and Simmons in the first 5 overs. What followed after this initial stumble was a match winning partnership of 133 runs between Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Sarwan settled in quickly and played a brisk game, keeping the fielders on their toes. His 74 was speckled with timely boundaries, and two magnificent sixes, off Gareth Batty flicked loftily over mid-wicket and off Mascarenhas thumped over extra cover.

Chanderpaul’s fireworks on the other hand were surprisingly dim, but he played a steady game and kept the runs coming, giving his home audience good cause for cheer. When Matt Prior dropped him on 27 he replied by going on to score an unbeaten 112. When on 80, Chanderpaul smashed a full toss off Anderson that went straight to Harmison, who took a brilliant catch. But after a few words of dissent, the umpire rightly declared it a no-ball for being above waist height.

Strauss on the other hand fought a lone battle to his century, without any big partnership to support him. First Ravi Bopara and Pietersen fell, bowled by Baker and Edwards respectively. Owais Shah came in next and partnered Strauss for 50 runs before falling to Bravo. One ball later, Bravo also scalped Collingwood (1), leaving England at 88 for 4. Mascarenhas raised a few faint hopes of a late recovery as he played a cool game along with Strauss. But a misunderstanding led to a run-out, signalling the end of England’s resistance. England was now at 156 for 6. It didn’t take too long Pollard and Miller to clean up the last few wickets, bowling the visitors out for 243 runs, thus levelling the series 1-1.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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