England kept their World Cup quarter-final hopes alive with an 18-run win over the West Indies on Thursday. West Indies, chasing 244 for victory, were 222 for six after a stand of 72 between Ramnaresh Sarwan (31) and all-rounder Andre Russell (49) rescued them from the depths of 150 for six. But they lost their final four wickets for three runs to finish on 225 all out.
Off-spinners James Tredwell and Graeme Swann took seven wickets between them as England kept their World Cup quarter-final hopes alive with an 18-run win over the West Indies on Thursday. West Indies, chasing 244 for victory, were 222 for six after a stand of 72 between Ramnaresh Sarwan (31) and all-rounder Andre Russell (49) rescued them from the depths of 150 for six.
But they lost their final four wickets for three runs to finish on 225 all out, with Sulieman Benn the last man dismissed when he was run out by Jonathan Trott's throw to wicketkeeper Matt Prior with more than five overs left. England now need Bangladesh to lose to South Africa on Saturday. If Bangladesh win, England can still go through if India beat West Indies on Sunday in the final match of Group B.
However, a West Indies win would see them into the last eight. "It's been pretty hard work all the way through the group stages. Today was obviously a tough game, a must-win game," said England skipper Andrew Strauss. "We probably should have got 260, 270 at least but we had to fight hard with the ball. I thought we did that brilliantly." West Indies captain Darren Sammy said his batsmen should have kicked on for victory.
"I think one of our guys who got starts had to take us through," he said. Russell, caught on 39 at long-on by Trott only to be awarded a six after the diving fielder just glanced the boundary marker, saw his 46-ball innings end when he was lbw to World Cup debutant Tredwell. The spinner was named man-of-the-match for his four for 48 to spark the climatic slump.
England then saw Sarwan turn Swann (three for 36) straight to Ian Bell at short leg. Two balls later Kemar Roach was caught by a diving Chris Tremlett off Swann to leave West Indies 223 for nine. West Indies had seen fit-again opener Chris Gayle (43) make a typically rapid start as their fifty came up inside five overs. But Tredwell took his first one-day international wicket when, fifth ball, he had Gayle, pushing half-forward, lbw to end a 21-ball innings featuring a six and eight fours.
Tredwell then had Darren Bravo edging to England captain Andrew Strauss at first slip. Sammy struck several sixes off Tredwell before playing onto Ravi Bopara for 41 off 29 balls. Swann had the big-hitting Kieron Pollard plumb lbw for 24, despite a desperate review, and West Indies were six down. Earlier, Luke Wright kept England's hopes alive with 44 after they'd slumped to 134 for five. Trott (47) was the only other England batsman who made more than Strauss's 31 in an innings where debutant leg-spinner Davendra Bishoo took three wickets and Russell claimed four.
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Scoreboard England
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A. Strauss c Gayle b Russell 31
M. Prior b Russell 21
J. Trott c Gayle b Bishoo 47
I. Bell b Roach 27
E. Morgan c Thomas b Bishoo 7
R. Bopara b Russell 4
L. Wright c Russell b Bishoo 44
J. Tredwell run out 9
T. Bresnan not out 20
G. Swann b Russell 8
C. Tremlett c Thomas b Roach 3
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Extras: (b1, lb4, w15, nb2) 22
Total: (all out, 48.4 overs) 243
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Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-79, 3-121, 4-134, 5-134, 6-151, 7-192, 8-216, 9-238, 10-243
Bowling: Roach 9.4-2-34-2 (2nb, 1w); Benn 10-0-56-0 (6w); Russell 8-0-49-4 (7w); Sammy 3-0-28-0; Bishoo 10-0-34-3; Pollard 8-0-37-0 (1w)
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West Indies
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D. Smith st Prior b Tredwell 10
C. Gayle lbw b Tredwell 43
D. Sammy b Bopara 41
D. Bravo c Strauss b Tredwell 5
D. Thomas b Bopara 9
R. Sarwan c Bell b Swann 31
K. Pollard lbw b Swann 24
A. Russell lbw b Tredwell 49
S. Benn run out 2
K. Roach c Tremlett b Swann 0
D. Bishoo not out 0
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Extras: (lb8, w3) 11
Total: (all out, 44.4 overs) 225
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Fall of wickets: 1-58, 2-67, 3-91, 4-113, 5-118, 6-150, 7-222, 8-223, 9-223, 10-225
Bowling: Bresnan 7-1-46-0; Swann 10-1-36-3 (1w); Tremlett 5-0-47-0 (1w); Tredwell 10-2-48-4 (1w); Bopara 8.4-2-22-2; Wright 4-0-18-0
Result: England won by 18 runs
Toss: England
Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) and Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
TV umpire: Simon Taufel (AUS)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI).
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Standings (played, won, lost, tied, no result, points, net run rate):
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Group A
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Australia 5 4 0 0 1 9 +1.693 - qualified
New Zealand 5 4 1 0 0 8 +1.957 - qualified
Pakistan 5 4 1 0 0 8 +0.729 - qualified
Sri Lanka 5 3 1 0 1 7 +2.705 - qualified
Zimbabwe 5 1 4 0 0 2 -0.669
Canada 6 1 5 0 0 2 -1.987
Kenya 5 0 5 0 0 0 -3.005
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Group B
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South Africa 5 4 1 0 0 8 +1.606 - qualified
India 5 3 1 1 0 7 +0.768
England 6 3 2 1 0 7 +0.072
West Indies 5 3 2 0 0 6 +1.650
Bangladesh 5 3 2 0 0 6 -0.765
Ireland 5 1 4 0 0 2 -0.881
Netherlands 5 0 5 0 0 0 -2.386
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