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England sign off in style

Kevin Pietersen sparkles with a brilliant 90; West Indies lose by three wickets, will take on South Africa in the semifinal on November 2.

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AHMEDABAD: Kevin Pietersen’s attacking instincts with the bat overshadowed an excellent all-round performance by Chris Gayle as England recorded their first win of the Champions Trophy.

On a wicket that reflected to a great extent the true nature of sub-continental tracks, England stirred back to life in their chase of a handsome West Indian target.

England began with a surge, Andrew Strauss hitting a fifty. Fellow opener Ian Bell too reached the mark, albeit at a slower pace. Gayle put down Strauss as England seemed to have seized all the momentum.

But the lanky opener plugged the run-flow bowling Strauss in his first over. He then returned to dismiss skipper Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood with his off-spin in a span of three balls. Kevin Pietersen kept England in the chase hitting an unbeaten 90.

With the run rate rising, Jerome Taylor’s over, the 47th of the innings, tilted the balance as England managed 16 runs off it.  The eight wicket partnership of 44 in just 23 balls between Pietersen and paceman Sajid Mahmood took England home.

West Indies will now meet Group B topper South Africa in Jaipur on November 2, as the winner of the India versus Australia game are set to go atop Group A on net run-rate.

Earlier Gayle notched-up his second ton in five games. Dwayne Bravo scored his maiden century. England didn’t play strike bowler Steve Harmison and the rest of their bowling line-up was treated with disdain by a West Indian line-up that has peaked just days before their semifinal clash.

Going with their rearranged batting order once again, with Bravo playing at No.3 and Brian Lara at No.6, West Indies found the England attack hardly threatening.

Bravo outscored Gayle and reached his half-century off 60 balls. Gayle reached the landmark shortly taking 80 balls.  The duo put on a vital 174 runs.

Scorecard:
West Indies
C Gayle run out 101, S Chanderpaul lbw b Lewis 13, D Bravo not out 112, R Sarwan c Collingwood b Mahmood 29,  B Lara b Mahmood 3,  M Samuels not out 3.
Extras (lb1, nb1, w9) 11.
Total (for four wickets)  272
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-209, 3-259, 4-268.
Bowling: Anderson 10-0-72-0, Lewis 10-1-35-1, Flintoff 5-0-27-0, Mahmood 7-0-44-2, Yardy 5-1-32-0, Dalrymple 10-0-42-0, Collingwood 3-0-19-0

England
A Strauss b Gayle 50, I. Bell run out 50, A Flintoff c Taylor b Gayle 25,  P Collingwood c Smith b Gayle 0, K Pietersen not out 90, M Yardy c Bravo b Samuels 10,  J Dalrymple b Samuels 8, C Read c Gayle b Bravo 4, S Mahmood not out 14. Extras (lb11, nb4, w10) 25
Total (for seven wickets, in 48.3 overs) 276
Fall of wickets: 1-82, 2-126, 3-127, 4-162, 5-180, 6-214, 7-232
Bowling: Edwards 7-0-56-0, Taylor 8.3-0-64-0, Collymore 10-1-43-0, Gayle 10-1-31-3, Samuels 10-0-45-2, Bravo 3-0-26-1
Result: England win by three wickets

 

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