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West Indies win after skittling England for 51

February 08, 2009 07:42 IST

England slumped to a humiliating defeat, by an innings and 23 runs, after being skittled for 51 by West Indies on the fourth day of the first Test on Saturday.

Jerome Taylor ripped the heart out of England, a superb spell of pace bowling earning figures of five for 11 at Sabina Park, while spinner Sulieman Benn took four for 31.

Andrew Flintoff was the only batsman to make double figures, hitting 24 as the visitors were routed for their third lowest total.

West Indies had not beaten England in their last 16 meetings going back to a victory at Edgbaston in 2000 but this was a victory reminiscent of their glory days in the 1980s as the tourists succumbed to outstanding fast bowling.

"There are no excuses, we didn't handle the pressure and as a group of batsmen we were very poor," Andrew Strauss told reporters after a nightmare first match in his second spell as captain.

After the home team were bowled out for 392 in their first innings, securing a lead of 74 runs, England slid to 11 for two at lunch with Alastair Cook and Ian Bell the men out.

Taylor, watched by triple Olympic champion and 100 metres world record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica, produced a 'Lightning Bolt' of his own by removing Kevin Pietersen for one with a classic delivery.

LATE OUTSWING

The fast bowler produced late outswing to bowl Pietersen as he attempted to hit the ball through mid-wicket.

Next to go was Strauss, who edged another excellent delivery from Taylor to keeper Denesh Ramdin.

With the crowd anticipating a famous victory, on-fire Taylor then bowled Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior to leave England reeling.

"It was the best fast bowling I have seen for a long while and he set the game up for us and we won it," said West Indies skipper Chris Gayle.

"This is what we have been talking about, getting the batting and bowling combined together and we saw that in this game. It was just tremendous."

Slow left armer Benn, who had earlier dismissed Bell, took his second wicket when Broad was caught by Xavier Marshall at short leg.

Benn then trapped Ryan Sidebottom lbw before Flintoff, who had provided some sort of resistance, was clean bowled by Fidel Edwards.

Spinner Benn, who also took four wickets in the first innings, finished England off when he bowled Steve Harmison to prompt wild celebrations from the Jamaican crowd.

It was sweet revenge for West Indies, who were bowled out for 47 by England the last time the teams met at this venue and Strauss's men now have plenty to think about ahead of next week's second Test in Antigua.

Scorecard

England (1st innings):
 A. Strauss c Ramdin b Taylor 7
 A. Cook c Sarwan b Powell 4
 I. Bell c Smith b Gayle 28
 K. Pietersen c Ramdin b Benn 97
 P. Collingwood lbw b Benn 16
 A. Flintoff c Nash b Powell 43
 M. Prior c & b Benn 64
 S. Broad c Benn b Taylor 4
 R. Sidebottom not out 26
 S. Harmison lbw b Taylor 7
 M.Panesar lbw b Benn 0
 Extras: (b 7, lb 8, nb 7) 22
 Total: (all out; 122.2 overs) 318

 Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-31, 3-71, 4-94, 5-180, 6-241, 7-256, 8-288, 9-313.

 Bowling: Taylor 20-4-74-3 (3-nb); Edwards 14-1-58-0 (3-nb); Powell 20-5-54-2 (1-nb), S. Benn 44.2-13-77-4; C. Gayle 24-9-40-1.

 West Indies (1st innings): (overnight 352-7)
 C. Gayle b Broad 104
 D. Smith lbw b Flintoff 6
 R. Sarwan b Flintoff 107
 X. Marshall lbw b Broad 0
 S. Chanderpaul lbw b Broad 20
 B. Nash c Prior b Broad 55
 D. Ramdin c Collingwood b Panesar 35
 J. Taylor lbw b Harmison 8
 S. Benn c Cook b Broad 23
 D. Powell c Prior b Harmison 9
 F. Edwards not out 10
 Extras: (b-6, lb-8, w-1) 15
 Total: (all out; 157.4 overs) 392

 Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-220, 3-220, 4-235, 5-254, 6-320, 7-341, 8-371, 9-376.

 Bowling: Sidebottom 24-5-35-0, Flintoff 33-11-72-2, Harmison 20.4-4-49-2 (1w), Broad 29-7-85-5, Panesar 47-14-122-1, Pietersen 4-1-15-0

 England (2nd innings):
 A. Strauss c Ramdin b Taylor 9
 A. Cook c Smith b Taylor 0
 I. Bell c Ramdin b Benn 4
 K. Pietersen b Taylor 1
 P. Collingwood b Taylor 1
 A. Flintoff b Edwards 24
 M. Prior b Taylor 0
 S. Broad c Marshall b Benn 0
 R. Sidebottom lbw b Benn 6
 S. Harmison b Benn 0
 M. Panesar not out 0
 Extras: (nb-4, b-2) 6
 Total: (all out; 33.2 overs) 51

 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-11, 3-12, 4-20, 5-23, 6-23, 7-26, 8-50, 9-51

 Bowling: Taylor 9-4-11-5 (2-nb); Powell 7-3-5-0, Benn 14.2-2-31-4; Gayle 2-1-1-0, Edwards 1-0-1-1 (1-nb).

 Result: West Indies win by an innings and 23 runs

 West Indies lead the four-match series 1-0

 Player of the match: J. Taylor (West Indies)

 2nd Test: Antigua, Feb 13-17

 3rd Test: Barbados, Feb 26-March 2

 4th Test: Trinidad, March 6-10

Source: REUTERS
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