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Windies blow away feeble England
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March 28, 2009 05:58 IST

Captain Chris Gayle [Images] led West Indies [Images] to a crushing eight-wicket victory as the hosts matched England's [Images] feeble total of 117 in fewer than 15 overs in a rain-affected third one-dayer in Barbados on Friday.

Gayle smashed eight sixes and five fours as he scored 80 in 43 balls to put his team 2-1 up in the five-match series.

Rain initially reduced the game to 44 overs per side before the West Indies target was later adjusted to 117 under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

"It was a good wicket to bat on, extremely good," Gayle told Sky Sports television.

"We all did well in bowling, batting, fielding and played a good game of cricket. Our team spirit is very high and I want to commend the guys on that."

After being put in to bat England threw their wickets away with a succession of loose pull and hook shots as they slumped to 68 for eight.

After the top order failed to make an impression former captain Kevin Pietersen [Images], who complained of homesickness in an interview on Thursday, swiped Dwayne Bravo's [Images] first ball straight to mid-wicket and was out for three.

Andrew Flintoff [Images], back in action after a month out through injury, went for a duck when he hooked a simple catch to Fidel Edwards [Images] off Bravo.

BROAD DUCK

The wickets continued to tumble and when Stuart Broad [Images] was caught behind for a duck England were 68 for eight, 18 short of their lowest one-day score of 86 against Australia [Images] at Old Trafford, Manchester in 2001.

However Dimitri Mascarenhas and Gareth Batty steadied the ship as they took the tourists past their previous worst score against West Indies, 114 on the same ground 23 years ago.

Both then fell in quick succession, Mascarenhas top-scoring with 36, as England were bowled out in the 42nd over with all-rounder Bravo taking four for 19 and paceman Edwards three for 28.

Proof that bad batting rather than a bad pitch was behind England's paltry total was not long in coming as Gayle set about his task with gusto.

The left-hander took 24 off one Mascarenhas over, including three huge sixes, as West Indies raced to 84 for nought off eight overs.

Gayle was eventually bowled by James Anderson [Images] and Ramnaresh Sarwan [Images] was bowled by Broad for 10, leaving Lendl Simmons and Shivnarine Chanderpaul [Images] to steer West Indies to 117 for two in 14.4 overs.

"I think all the guys are sitting in the dressing room pretty embarrassed by the way we played," said England skipper Andrew Strauss [Images].

"It was not good enough, there were very few positives to take out of it. There was some very poor batting early on and we paid the price for it."

The fourth match in Barbados is on Sunday.

England
 A. Strauss c Gayle b Edwards 2
 R. Bopara c Sarwan b Edwards 10
 K. Pietersen c Pollard b Bravo 3
 O. Shah c Sammy b Baker 17
 P. Collingwood lbw b Bravo 6
 A. Flintoff c Edwards b Bravo 0
 M. Prior c Sammy b Pollard 7
 A. Mascarenhas c Bravo b Edwards 36
 S. Broad c Ramdin b Pollard 0
 G. Batty c Sammy b Bravo 17
 J. Anderson not out 0
 Extras: (b-8, lb-1, w-10) 19
 Total: (all out; 41.3 overs) 117

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-17, 3-41, 4-42, 5-43, 6-54, 7-68, 8-68, 9-116.

Bowling: Edwards 8.3-1-28-3 (3w), Baker 9-5-21-1 (1w), Bravo 7-1-19-4 (1w), Sammy 9-2-19-0, Pollard 6-0-16-2, Miller 2-0-5-0.

West Indies
 C. Gayle b Anderson 80
 L. Simmons not out 14
 R. Sarwan b Broad 10
 S. Chanderpaul not out 3
 Extras: (b-4, nb-6) 10
 Total: (two wickets, 14.4 overs) 117

Fall of wickets: 1-98, 2-114

Bowling: Broad 3.4-1-31-1 (1nb), Anderson 5-0-39-1 (1nb), Flintoff 5-0-19-0, Mascarenhas 1-0-24-0.

Result: West Indies win by 8 wickets (D/L method)

Series: West Indies lead the five-match series 2-1




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