After the West Indies' triumph in the test series, attention in the Caribbean switched to the shorter form of the game. The West Indians were keen to build on their test triumph, whilst England were searching for any positives to build on at the end of a tumultuous winter. England's acting head coach Andy Flower also knew that a win would be vital to his chances of securing the role on a permanent basis.
Following the West Indies' triumph in the test series, John Dyson's name had also been added to the list of candidates for the highest paid coaching position in world cricket. Whichever coach could triumph in a One-Day International (ODI) series between these two sides, seemingly well matched on paper, would enhance their prospects significantly.
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| The First ODI at Providence, Guyana
As it turned out, the first ODI will surely have proved to be decisive for one of the candidate's chances. With the second ball of the 47th over and the light worsening, Stuart Broad followed up James Anderson's dismissal of Keiron Pollard (42 off 36 balls) the previous over, by trapping Dinesh Ramdin lbw. That meant two new batsmen at the crease and when the umpires offered the light, they looked up to the West Indies balcony for guidance. Dyson took responsibility himself to work out the score needed under the Duckworth-Lewis (DL) method and called his batsmen in.
However Dyson had miscalculated the score. The West Indies, who needed 27 from 22 balls with just three wickets remaining, actually trailed by one run under the DL system. With dusk falling, there was little to no chance of the light improving sufficiently to enable the game to be resumed. Dyson had condemned his team to defeat and an England team who had not tasted victory all winter (this was their 14th game) could not believe their luck.
It was a horrific error for a coach to make. The West Indies were by no means certain to win -- the Duckworth-Lewis system had them narrowly behind the asking rate remember - but it unnecessarily deprived his side of the chance to win.
As horrendous a mistake as it was, the decisive moment was surely Broad's third wicket, to dismiss Ramdin. That was the moment England went ahead under DL. It was also noteworthy as the third time in the game Anderson and Broad had bowled in tandem to good effect: they took the new ball and conceded just 14 runs off the first six overs whilst picking up the key wicket of West Indian skipper Chris Gayle. They later returned to pick up two dangermen, Chanderpaul (46 from 30) -- who had stunningly hit the previously economical Harmison for 26 in the over before - and Bravo, in four balls during the powerplay, before taking those two late wickets to swing DL back in England's favour.
England's total of 270/7 had been built around a 98 run partnership between Shah (62 from 86) and Collingwood (69 from 77) that had injected some life into the innings after a ponderous start from Strauss and Bopara. Strauss' dismissal for 15, chasing what would have been called a wide from the hapless Powell, freed up Bopara (43 from 62) who benefited from having a more aggressive batsman in Pietersen and then Shah alongside him. With Mascarenhas falling for a duck, it needed a late cameo of 26* from 21 balls from wicketkeeper Prior for England to reach as much as 270. Thanks to Dyson's contribution, it was to prove sufficient.
The Second ODI at Providence, Guyana
After the drama of the first ODI, the second was a disappointing affair. In a rain affected series, the game least affected by rain proved to be the dampest squib of them all.
The highlight was an unbeaten century from Chanderpaul as the West Indies levelled the series, but in truth the game lacked intensity and tension as the West Indies eased to an uninspiring victory.
Anderson had had the West Indies in trouble at 24/2, having removed both openers, but Chanderpaul hit 112* off 134 balls and shared a decisive partnership of 133 with Sarwan (74 off 89).
Able to score with ease off the likes of Mascarenhas, Batty, Collingwood and Harmison during the middle overs, it took the return of Anderson and the powerplay to end the partnership. Although England took late wickets during the slog -- both Mascarenhas' wickets coming off fine catches in the deep, whilst Collingwood also picked up three wickets -- the third wicket partnership between the West Indies' two big guns in the middle order had taken the game away from England, who must have rued the absence of a wicket-taking threat in the middle overs.
In reply Strauss, dropped twice including once before he had scored, hit his third ODI ton. It however never looked like being a match-winning effort from the England captain. At the other end, wickets were falling at regular intervals and Strauss appeared to lack the extra gear necessary to get on top of the run-rate. The West Indies were just able to strangle England with the ten wickets shared out between six bowlers and two run-outs.
The Third ODI at Bridgetown, Barbados
In contrast the third ODI saw fireworks aplenty.
As a contest it was a non-event. England produced as insipid a performance as can be remembered. A succession of ill-advised and poorly executed hook shots saw England slump to 68/6, on what was essentially a good batting surface. Fidel Edwards claimed both openers and figures of 8.1-28-3 whilst Bravo ran through the middle order for 7-1-19-4. Most incredible of all was Lionel Baker bowling five maidens in his nine over spell. The West Indies might have been confident having levelled the series with a dominant performance in the last game, but this was surely beyond their wildest dreams.
Mascarenhas made a laboured 36, largely off the economical part-timers Pollard and Sammy, to restore a little pride by taking England over the hundred mark, but by that stage the game was up.
With such a meagre target of 117 to play for, Chris Gayle set about entertaining the crowd with an incredible swashbuckling display of power-hitting. In just 43 balls he smote eight 6s and five 4s, including taking the hapless Mascarenhas for 24 in his only over.
When Gayle was finally bowled, having made 80 scintillating runs in an opening partnership of 98, his opening partner, Lendl Simmons, saw the West Indies home with 14*. The West Indies may have chased down their total in just 14.4 overs but few in the crowd can have felt short-changed having witnessed such a display from Gayle. Only Flintoff, back again after injury survived the onslaught.
The Fourth ODI at Bridgetown, Barbados
The fourth game proved to be the decisive game of the series. For the West Indies a win would secure the series, whilst England needed to triumph to keep the series alive.
The West Indies got off to a steady start. Anderson and Broad's first three overs and a ball had gone for just three runs. Gayle responded by dispatching a Broad long-hop over midwicket for six. Broad's response was to swing a full delivery into Gayle's pads to trap him plumb lbw only for umpire Steve Davis to inexplicably say not out.
England must have feared the worse, especially when later that over Gayle smacked Broad for another boundary. Strauss immediately withdrew Broad and brought on Flintoff, but even the mighty Flintoff was greeted with his first ball being sent sailing over his head for a glorious six by Gayle. Davis' error was looking potential critical at this stage and the West Indies were looking good value for a series win.
Surprisingly Strauss opted to take the powerplay. His decision looked even stranger when Harmison and Flintoff were both dispatched for further sixes. Broad was brought back into the attack and he was hit for six again as Gayle racked up his 10th six in a matter of days at Bridgetown. However, once more Broad responded intelligently to being hit for six by bowling a slower-ball cutter which fooled Gayle into skying for Prior to take a well judged catch. In all 42 of Gayle's 46 runs had come in boundaries.
It was a crucial breakthrough, just as the series looked to be slipping out of England's grasp.
The game, and indeed the series, was then decisively turned when the new batsman, Sarwan ran out Simmons, who had seemed well set, looking for a second run that was never there. From that point on, the West Indies never regained the upper-hand in the series.
With the momentum now in England's favour, Flintoff got Sarwan to chop onto his stumps and the West Indies had gone from peppering the stands and scoring freely to three down with two new batsmen at the crease having to rebuild.
Ramdin added 26 before he was out to a horrendous shot to Mascarenhas and Chanderpaul soon joined him in the pavilion, when attempting to guide the same bowler to third man, he edged to Prior. When Pollard then was caught spectacularly on the boundary - although cameras later suggested Flintoff's foot might have touched the rope - the West Indies were in deep trouble at 173/7.
The irrepressible Bravo hit an excellent 69, but the West Indies total of 239/9 looked well under par.
Rain reduced this target to 135 in 20 overs, a total that should have been straight forward enough in international cricket, but it was still a score that dwarfed England's previous effort in the series -- and this was to be scored from half as many overs.
In the end, England had nothing to worry about. Strauss and Bopara started superbly. In contrast to previous efforts -- in Barbados Strauss had played out a near shot-less maiden first over -- the opening six overs contained just five dot balls as England rotated the strike intelligently and played themselves in before unleashing the big shots. When Baker dropped short or bowled too full, Strauss punished, unleashing four consecutive boundaries.
Strauss survived one edge behind that was adjudged not to have carried, but otherwise was rarely troubled in an innings of unprecedented freedom. The partnership was finally broken in the 14th over. Having hit Pollard over the roof of the stand at midwicket for a gigantic six, Bopara foolishly attempted to repeat the shot and was well caught at fine-leg by Miller. By this stage England had passed the hundred mark and the asking rate was below a run a ball. With Pietersen unable to bat because of back spasms, Prior joined his captain at the crease and comfortably saw England home. Strauss will not have played better than for his 79* off just 61 balls.
For the West Indies defeat was hard to take. Lionel Baker who had bowled five maidens in nine overs in the previous game, was particularly wayward and was dispatched at the rate of 12 runs an over. Only the medium pace of Pollard was anything approaching economical and by then the game was as good as over.
The Fifth and final ODI at Gros Islet, St Lucia
With the series on the line it was England's two $1.55 million IPL stars who finally made their presence felt at the end of what had hitherto been a quiet series for them -- at least on the pitch.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore's Kevin Pietersen, who had dominated the sports pages having been quoted saying he was at the end of his tether and couldn't wait to go home, top-scored with a run a ball 48 before the Chennai Super Kings' Andrew Flintoff took five for 19, including a hat-trick.
Add in supporting roles from Ravi Bopara (Kings XI Punjab, signed for $450,000), who scored 44 from 49 balls in sharing with Pietersen the only meaningful partnership of the game; and Paul Collingwood (Delhi Daredevils, $275,000) who smacked 35* off 31 balls at the death; and it was not just a good result for England, but also for the IPL auction system.
Indeed, England's score of 172/5 off 29 overs might have been higher had Pietersen's innings, the most fluent of the day, not been controversially ended. Sammy claimed a fumbled catch that TV pictures suggested had almost certainly been grounded, but it was Sammy's knowingly sheepish grin which appeared to be the most damning evidence against him. Expect further action to be taken against the St Lucian.
In the West Indies' reply, Chris Gayle (Kolkata Knights, $800,000) proved to be the lone IPL star not to live up to his price tag as he fell for a duck to Anderson, caught at second slip by who other than Flintoff. Bopara's team-mate at Kings XI Punjab, Sarwan then justified his price-tag being half of Bopara's, by scoring half as many runs when the excellent Flintoff enticed him to play on. In the middle of another superb spell, Flintoff then dismissed Simmons who played an atrocious shot, to leave the West Indies up against it at 45/3. The game, and with it the series, was heading in England's direction.
The West Indies desperately needed a big score from Bangalore's Chanderpaul ($200,000) but with the asking rate climbing, he fell attempting to slog-sweep Collingwood for 13. When top-scorer Bravo (Mumbai Indians, $300,000) was snapped up for 33 at long-on by Collingwood off Anderson, the writing was on the wall.
The West Indies had miraculously fought back from the dead in the Champions Trophy final against the same opponents in 2004, but there was to be no such recovery in 2009. Flintoff steamed in bowling fast and full, dispatching Ramdin, Rampaul and Benn bowled, lbw and bowled in consecutive balls, to join team-mates Anderson and Harmison as the third Englishman to have taken an ODI hattrick.
When Sammy suicidally ran himself out, taking on Pietersen's arm for a second run that was never there, England had finally salvaged something out of the winter.
For the West Indies, the disappointment of the ODI series defeat will be tempered by their first test triumph for a number of years. Neither side will have to wait long to have the chance of avenging their respective defeats: the hosts are due to tour the visitors in May, and play test and ODI series that will now have extra spice following the closeness of this winter's encounters.
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