LONDON, July 6: An unbeaten 132 from Chris Gayle guided West Indies to a seven-wicket win in the triangular series one-day match against England at Lord's on Tuesday.
Ricardo Powell (33 not out) hit the winning run as West Indies reached their target of 286 with five balls to spare and set up a final on Saturday against New Zealand. Gayle, in his 100th One-day International, shared an 187-run partnership with Ramnaresh Sarwan, who scored 89 off 78 balls, before edging James Anderson to wicket-keeper Geraint Jones.
Captain Brian Lara, who was dismissed in the same manner for 10, said: "We went in with less bowlers, packed the batting and Gayle and Sarwan have sealed it for us." "It was most important in the first 15 overs not to lose more than one wicket."
England had their chances but Michael Vaughan missed when shying at the stumps and Strauss spilled a diving catch when Gayle was on 19. Man-of-the-Match Gayle earlier took three for 57 in England's innings, including the wickets of Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss in the final over.
The pair had shared an England record stand of 226 to lift England to 285 for seven. Flintoff, who scored his first one-day hundred in the six-wicket defeat to New Zealand on Sunday, blasted an England record of seven sixes in his 104-ball 123.
The left-handed Strauss made 100, his highest one-day score, from 116 balls. The team batting first have now lost all six completed games in the tournament and England have not won batting first in 11 games since the World Cup in 2003.
England had again started badly, thanks to some aggressive and accurate bowling from Tino Best, who took two for 42. Marcus Trescothick was bowled for 11 and Best then tempted Vaughan to play a wayward shot and edge behind for eight. West Indies will play New Zealand in the final at Lord's on Saturday, with the last group match between the same sides on Thursday in Southampton.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND:
M.E. Trescothick b Best 11
M.P. Vaughan c Jacobs b Best 8
R.W.T. Key b D.R. Smith 19
A.J. Strauss c Bravo b Gayle 100
A. Flintoff c Bradshaw b Gayle 123
P.D. Collingwood c D.S. Smith b Gayle 1
G.O. Jones run out 1
A.F. Giles not out 0
EXTRAS (LB-6, W-10, NB-6) 22
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 285
FALL OF WKTS: 1-14, 2-27, 3-54, 4-280, 5-284, 6-284, 7-285.
DID NOT BAT: D. Gough, S.J. Harmison, J.M. Anderson.
BOWLING: Bradshaw 10-2-29-0 (1w); Best 10-1-42-2 (1nb, 3w); Bravo 10-2-80-0 (2w); D.R. Smith 10-0-71-1 (3nb, 2w); Gayle 10-0-57-3 (2nb, 2w).
WEST INDIES:
C.H. Gayle not out 132
D.S. Smith c Jones b Gough 10
R.R. Sarwan c Jones b Anderson 89
B.C. Lara c Jones b Anderson 10
R.L. Powell not out 33
EXTRAS (LB-7, W-5) 12
TOTAL (for three wkts, 49.1 overs) 286
FALL OF WKTS: 1-15, 2-202, 3-218.
DID NOT BAT: D.R. Smith, S. Chanderpaul, D.J.J. Bravo, R.D. Jacobs, I.D.R. Bradshaw, T.L. Best.
