England survive Ramdin onslaught to take series
For the first time since September, England have won two matches in a row - with starring roles for two young batsmen - but it was not without some tension
For the first time since September, England have won two matches in a row - with starring roles for two young batsmen - but it was not without some tension
Scorer: Sanjay Murari | Commentator: Alan Gardner
Okidoke, that's yer lot for today, I'll leave you with Gnasher's report and the memory of Denesh Ramdin swinging his merry way to a century - the first by a West Indies wicketkeeper in ODIs. It was a day for master blasting after all... We'll be back for more in the T20s, starting on Sunday. Ciao
6pm: Time for the presentations, Ian Bishop talking to West Indies captain, Dwayne Bravo: "We were confident to chase, it was a good wicket but the top order failed and it didn't quite come off at the end. I think Root and Buttler batted well, they capitalised on the start they had. Our bowling group is always in the game. We didn't get it right at the key moments, the first ten overs, it's something we have to work on, as a team and a batting group."
England captain, Stuart Broad: "Very happy, certainly the way the batsmen played, on that wicket, which no one knew quite how it would play. We thought we could hurt them if we got a partnership going, that's what Jos did at the end, once he got himself going - he looks unstoppable. We've taken some half chances, particularly in the last couple of games, and that yorker in the end shows it can work."
Joe Root is named Man of the Match and Man of the Series: "It's been a new experience [using the new ball], Stuart said at the start of the series it might be an option on these wickets, it's gone well. We wanted to take it deep, make sure we had wickets in hand going into the last ten overs. It worked out for us this time."
5.45pm: All it needed was a simple yorker. Easy, isn't it? Denesh Ramdin played an absolute blinder there, helping to add 147 in less than 20 overs for the last four wickets; but Tim Bresnan kept his head on just straight enough to snuff them out. Had they taken their catches, England would have won with daylight to spare but these are two fallible, fragile teams and nothing is ever that simple. In the week that Shahid Afridi reasserted his crazy skillz, that was a fitting end, Ramdin slamming 90 off 42 balls at the end. We've got three T20s to come, the real warm-up for Bangladesh, and they should be plenty of fun.
D Ramdin b Bresnan 128 (167m 109b 12x4 5x6) SR: 117.43
Three overs to go, 40 required. Sitting uncomfortably?
Can Ravi Rampaul, the No. 11, help Ramdin pull this off? "Is James Faulkner around?" wonders Edwin
SP Narine run out 10 (9m 6b 0x4 1x6) SR: 166.66
Victory in a short and, at times, low quality one-day series should not be over-hyped but all recoveries have to start somewhere and England's may just have begun in Antigua
A cloud of suspicion hung over the England team after umpire Marais Erasmus changed the ball due to "unnatural deterioration" during the West Indies innings in the third ODI
ESPNcricinfo presents plays of the day from the deciding one-day international between West Indies and England
The pitch in Antigua, which will be used for the third time, is doing the spectator few favours but all the players can do is take their chance. Ravi Bopara did that two days ago, winning a game he may not have done in the past
For the first time since September, England have won two matches in a row - with starring roles for two young batsmen - but it was not without some tension