LONDON, May 21: Alastair Cook and Ian Bell made composed fifties to guide England to a comfortable five-wicket win over West Indies in the first Test at Lord’s on Monday.
The hosts had crumbled to 57 for four chasing 191 for victory on a chilly morning but Cook and Bell steadied the ship with a fifth-wicket partnership of 132.
Cook was out for 79 just before the end but Bell steered England home, clipping Marlon Samuels for four through mid-wicket to seal victory and finish on 63 not out.
“There’s always a bit of pressure when you’re chasing a score but we always had faith the wicket was going to stay very flat,” England captain Andrew Strauss told a news conference.
After resuming on 10 for two, Jonathan Trott became Kemar Roach’s third victim of the innings when he nicked a rapid seaming delivery to West Indies captain Darren Sammy at slip before Kevin Pietersen edged a catch to wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin trying to pull a short ball from Shannon Gabriel.
That left West Indies scenting an unlikely victory against the world’s top-ranked team.
The touring side have won only one of their last 18 Tests in England and trailed the hosts by 155 runs on first innings but a battling 345 second time round kept them in the match.
Cook and Bell displayed exemplary calmness in a tense atmosphere, however, rotating the strike neatly and hitting bad balls to the boundary to steer England to 131 for four at lunch.
Cook got to his fifty just before the interval with a late cut for four off spinner Samuels, the left-hander reaching the milestone off 78 balls having hit eight boundaries.
Bell passed fifty for the second time in the match midway through the afternoon session and the pair strolled through the final overs picking up runs at will before Cook was caught at gully by Kirk Edwards off Sammy with just two runs needed.
For England, this match was a personal triumph for Stuart Broad. The fast-medium bowler, named Man-of-the-Match, took a Test-best seven for 72 in the first innings and four for 43 in the second for a match haul of 11 for 165.—Agencies
Scoreboard WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 243 (S. Chanderpaul 87 not out, A.B. Barath 42; S.C.J. Broad 7-72).
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 398 (A.J. Strauss 122, I.R. Bell 61, I.J.L. Trott 58; S.T. Gabriel 3-60, K.A.J. Roach 3-108).
WEST INDIES (2nd Innings) 345 (S. Chanderpaul 91, M.N. Samuels 86, D. Ramdin 43; S.C.J. Broad 4-43, G.P. Swann 3-59).
ENGLAND (2nd Innings, overnight 10-2): A.J. Strauss c Powell b Roach 1 A.N. Cook c K.A. Edwards b Sammy 79 J.M. Anderson c Ramdin b Roach 6 I.J.L. Trott c Sammy b Roach 13 K.P. Pietersen c Ramdin b Gabriel 13 I.R. Bell not out 63 J.M. Bairstow not out 0
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3, NB-11) 18 TOTAL (for five wkts, 47 overs) 193 FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-10, 3-29, 4-57, 5-189. BOWLING: F.H. Edwards 8-0-24-0 (1nb); Roach 13-2-60-3 (10nb); Gabriel 5-1-26-1; Sammy 10-1-25-1; Samuels 11-0-51-0.
RESULT: England won by five wickets. UMPIRES: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and M. Erasmus (South Africa). TV UMPIRE: Asad Rauf (Pakistan). MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka). MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Stuart Broad. SECOND TEST: Trent Bridge, May 25-29. THIRD TEST: Edgbaston, June 7-11.