Strauss Century Not Enough As Chanderpaul Exposes England

The brilliance of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, clever bowling and an athletic display in the field proved too good for England here yesterday. Having won Friday's game on a technicality – although the impetus they had made them favorites – they were thoroughly outplayed, unable to get within touching distance of West Indies' 264 for eight despite Andrew Strauss's dogged 105 from 129 balls. When they were all out for 243, it was not even close enough to claim a misreading of the Duckworth Lewis chart as an excuse. West Indies won by 21 runs with 10 balls remaining. The series was 1-1.

Earlier Chanderpaul and Sarwan, revered in their Guyanese homeland and each cheered to the rafters on appearing at the crease, had added 133 for the third wicket, Sarwan making a blistering 74 while Chanderpaul, despite being handicapped by cramp later in his innings, went on to make an unbeaten 112, his 10th one-day hundred but his first in Guyana. The sea of waving flags that greeted the landmark showed a good day for the vendors who lined the street to the stadium.

England's reply started with promising intent but spluttered out before it could properly ignite. Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen both dragged the new ball on to their stumps before a third-wicket stand of 50 between Strauss and Owais Shah appeared to have steadied things, the progress sedate but secure, with wickets in hand. But the two medium-pacers Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy between them punched a hole in the innings midway and England were unable to recover.

Shah was first to go. His had been a curiously inhibited innings, feeling the way no doubt, his principal scoring area the angled single down to third man. Now, however, he tried to turn Bravo, getting a hint of reverse swing, off his legs, missed and was lbw for 22, an innings that occupied 44 balls. Two ball later Paul Collingwood played outside another inswinger from Bravo which clipped the top of his off-stump to the delight of the bowler who set off on a passable imitation of Wilbur Wright trying, and failing, to get airborne. When, three overs later, Matt Prior was brilliantly caught by Denesh Ramdin, standing up to Sammy, reducing England to 97 for five, there was a certain irony, for it was Prior's hamfisted keeping to Mascarenhas, in similar circumstance, that reprieved Chanderpaul when he had made 26.

The balance of batsman and wicketkeeper remains a work in progress ever since the retirement of Alec Stewart for, while Prior has established himself as a decent batsman, there are few things more dispiriting for bowlers, or potentially more costly to the team cause, than a pair of iron gloves behind the stumps. The keeper is the fulcrum of the side, the hub of the fielding wheel, the one by whom standards are measured. Prior is just not good enough and the search must go on.

The task thereafter was too much for England, with Chris Gayle mixing his bowling options and the bowlers responding with the compendium of slower balls and cutters that have now become a staple of one-day cricket, designed as they are to disrupt the rhythm of batting and the potential for timing big hits. However West Indies also upped their fielding to an impressively dynamic level, with Gayle's stupendous stop and throw from a prone position that saw the end of Mascarenhas and his potential hitting and a similar piece of inspiration from Nikita Miller at mid-on to send Gareth Batty packing.

With Stuart Broad caught and bowled by Miller, Strauss was fighting a lone battle and, having taken the batting power- play, albeit with Harmison for company, he reached his third one-day hundred and his first since he made 152 against Bangladesh four years ago, from 126 balls with six fours. A brief rain break was not helpful and immediately after it, with England requiring 36 from 20 balls, he was bowled behind his legs by Kieron Pollard.

Beyond a West Indies win, however, the 15,000 spectators had come to worship at the altar of Chanderpaul and Sarwan and they were not to be denied. While Chanderpaul played an innings taken straight from the template he has when presented with almost a complete innings to bat, Sarwan, a scintillating batsman all tour, continued in that vein, taking the dominant role in the partnership. Twice Sarwan cleared the ropes, reaching 50 at almost a run a ball and had hit four fours besides when he was caught at mid-off. Chanderpaul, however, was able to accelerate with a series of inventive and exotic strokes, none more so than the reverse slog-sweep over what was backward point, from Anderson, a risky stroke against a spinner never mind a bowler propelling at almost 90mph.