It was a princely occasion; Brian Charles Lara was to bow out of cricket after this match. West Indies had lost the race for Semi-finals but the packed crowd at Kensington Oval wanted to see their team give Lara a fitting farewell by winning this last encounter. But after a heart-racing epic of a match, it was the English who presented victory as a souvenir to their outgoing coach Duncan Fletcher.
Michael Vaughan chose to bowl after winning the toss on a batting paradise. Chris Gayle and Devon Smith did justice to the pitch report and held English attack at bay till the 24th over. Gayle was at his murderous best while Smith provided him perfect company to post 131 for the first wicket. After launching Plunkett into the straight boundary for six, he smashed back to back boundaries off Stuart Broad who came on to bowl after Anderson had opened the attack with a couple of struggling overs. Plunkett then was taken to cleaners as the pair looted 22 of his over which included successive doublets of fours and sixes by unforgiving Gayle. Vaughan introduced spin in the form of Jamie Dalrymple but could not stop the galling Gayle. Vaughan himself came on to bowl and did a good confining job. Flintoff got rid of Gayle who slashed uppishly to 3rd man where Broad took a good catch. He scored a swashbuckling 79 off just 58 balls (10 fours, 3 sixes).
The prince entered to grace the cricket field for one last time amid loud cheers and electric drumbeats from the crowd. He was given a nice guard of honor by the English players. Lara looked in good touch crashing two boundaries but Smith fell for 61 (106 balls, 6 fours) when Collingwood took a blinder at backward point. Then the disaster struck. Lara was called by Marlon Samuels for a quick single and when he responded, Samuels stopped leaving Lara stranded and run out in his last international innings. It was an unfortunate way to bid adieu but probably a fitting one too as no bowler could claim his wicket on his farewell. Crowd roared at first giving him a standing ovation and then, understandably, got deflated.
West Indies posted exactly 300 after being all out on the penultimate ball of the innings riding on the contributions from Samuels ( 51 off 39 balls; 6 fours, 1 six) and Chanderpaul (34 off 39 balls). Vaughan was the best bowler taking 3 for 39.
England lost Strauss early but Vaughan and Ravi Bopara put on 90 runs in 13 overs to give a solid foundation for the run chase. Vaughan was at his elegant best in this match, which proved to be his last ODI, scoring freely and stylishly on his way to 79 off just 68 balls including 6 fours and two sixes. The six he hit off Jerome Taylor was a treat to watch, rocking back and pulling over deep midwicket into the crowd. Some good fielding and bowling brought West Indies in a winning position when they reduced England to 189 for 6 in the 36th over. It was Bravo’s brilliance which caused this swing in fortune for Windies as after effecting two run outs (Vaughan and Ravi Bopara) through direct hits he had Collingwood played on. Kevin Pietersen, meanwhile, had settled at the crease. He played brilliantly and although the asking rate had gone up towards 7.5, he kept his team in the hunt. He first steadied the innings with Paul Nixon and then unleashed his array of strokes all around the park to bring his team within an arm’s length from the target. He brought his hundred in style by hitting Taylor for six but was cleaned up on the next delivery. He made exactly 100 (91 balls; 10 fours, 1 six). His wicket brought West Indies back into the match as Plunkett too followed him cheaply.
England required 29 runs from the last 3 overs and had 3 wickets in hand. Nixon used his wise old head and steely resolve to collect 3 boundaries in the 48th over bowled by Collymore. The equation, then, became run a ball for the last two overs. Nixon got out for 38, foxed by a Bravo slower ball in the last over, leaving England needing 3 runs to win with the last pair standing. Broad hit the winning runs on the penultimate ball wining the match by one wicket. Lara, tears in his eyes, was disappointed at losing the match despite coming so close but then recovered and shook hands with all on the field before going off walking through the clapping England fielders who had lined up to say him good bye. Pietersen was named man of the match for his match-winning hundred.
It was a thrilling encounter, which had lit up an otherwise dull World Cup. In the end Lara asked the crowd, “Did I entertain?” and there is no need to say what reply he got from his people.
Published in SportPulse.net
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