Windies romp into ICC World T20 semis
Scintillating knocks by seasoned duo Ramnaresh Sarwan (19 n.o.) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (17 n.o.) propelled West Indies to the semi-finals.
West Indies beat England by five wickets via Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-affected ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight match at The Oval on Monday night.
Chasing 80 for victory off nine overs after rain twice held up play, West Indies looked dead and buried after they lost three wickets inside the first three overs, but the experienced duo added 37 runs off 18 balls to win the team a place in the last-four stage.
With both teams needing victory to ensure a last-four berth, Ravi Bopara's (47-ball 55) lifted England to 161 for six after captain Paul Collingwood won the toss and opted to bat.
However, two rain interruptions -- once during England's innings with the score reading 129 for four and then at the innings break -- brought Duckworth-Lewis into play.
In response, Gayle's stumps were uprooted by Ryan Sidebottom while Andre Fletcher and Lendl Simmons followed before and after the West Indies captain to leave the team reeling at 16 for three.
Dwayne Bravo (18) and Kieron Pollard (6) put on 25 runs for the fourth wicket but the former was stumped with 35 needed from 23 balls.
But Sarwan eased the pressure with three fours and along with Chanderpaul found the gaps with relative ease to send England packing from the tournament.
SX4 Performer: Ramnaresh Sarwan
Earlier, India-born Bopara's innings had class written all over as he reached his 50 in 43 balls with the help of five boundaries.
He also starred in two crucial partnerships, 56 with Kevin Pietersen and another 34 with Owais Shah to help England register a competitive total before rain played spoilsport.
England lost Luke Wright (6) early but Pietersen (31) and Bopara scored at a fast clip.
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Pietersen seemed in good nick, showing no signs of the Achilles injury that has been plaguing him off late.
He was well complemented by Bopara, who batted with elan. The duo brought in their 50 off 34 balls but Pietersen fell soon after going for a needless shot.
He went for a big heave off Simmons but found Fletcher at the mid-on boundary, ending his 19-ball stay at the crease that included five boundaries.
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Shah (18) joined Bopara and the duo scored at a quick pace before Fletcher plucked the former at the mid-on boundary off Dwayne Bravo.
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West Indies captain Chris Gayle then dealt a body blow to England when he trapped Bopara in front of the wicket, ending his 47-ball innings.
Collingwood was joined by James Foster when rain intervened with England at 129 for four. However, with the rain easing off soon, the players were back on the pitch after a 30-minute break without any deduction in overs.
Teams:
England: Luke Wright, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood (C), James Foster (W), Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson.
West Indies: Chris Gayle (C), Andre Fletcher, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (W), Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn.
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