Cricket: Hick steers England to a belated victory: West Indies tamed by resilient tourists as steady Stewart lays foundation for final one-day international win

West Indies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250-9

England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201-5

England win on faster scoring rate

THE rain which helped England win the final one-day international here yesterday might have been more relevant had it not been for England themselves performing like a complete shower the previous day.

Defeat on Saturday had already given the West Indies a winning 3-1 lead, and while victory in the final match was some reassurance that this tour has not gone completely off the rails, it was against a side not exactly overflowing with incentive.

After the West Indies had made 250 for 9 from their 50 overs, England's task was made a good deal easier by a squall that reduced the target to 201 from 40, and although they were not without their anxious moments, England finally got home on faster overall scoring rate with five wickets and 20 deliveries to spare.

Alec Stewart's ferocious 53 off 38 balls appeared to have set them up for an overwhelming victory, but once Stewart died by the sword - missing another violent blow to a straight ball - it required a solid partnership between Mike Atherton (51) and Graeme Hick to regain the initiative.

There was another clatter of wickets when Atherton was bowled off his pads, but Hick kept a clear head and nudged and nurdled England past the winning post.

To the West Indies, yesterday's match was a bit like having a waiter arrive with more soup during the brandy and cigars, and their commitment to winning it was mirrored by giving Desmond Haynes and Curtly Ambrose the day off.

This was doubtless a team decision, although a written order from the West Indian Cricket Board cannot be entirely ruled out. One-day cricket is their major source of revenue, and they might have been worried enough at the effect of crowd appeal on another lopsided contest to impose their own handicapping system.

As for England, the sort of day they had on Saturday was summed up by Alan Igglesden, who got hit for 16 in three overs, left the field with what was reported to be sunstroke, and then got run out without facing a ball. Why Igglesden had been picked despite having been dehydrated by a bout of stomach cramps the previous evening, can safely be plopped into the burgeoning file of curious decisions on this tour.

Bowling first on Saturday, however, was not one of them, despite the fact that the West Indies would almost certainly have topped 300 but for two bouts of rain that, following the umpires' recalculations, gave England the easier task of making 209 from 36 overs to win on scoring rate.

That they were not up to this was largely down to Roger Harper picking up four wickets in consecutive overs, but it was the bowling that had the team manager, Keith Fletcher, foaming at the mouth. There was deviation off the seam from a surface that started damp, and movement through the air on a morning of Turkish bath humidity, and yet by the time the shine was off the ball, the West Indies were 75 for 1 in 13 overs. 'Rubbish' was Fletcher's description of his side's bowling, which in all honesty was being rather kind.

It was better yesterday, but not substantially so, and in any event it could scarcely have been any worse. Andrew Caddick's 1 for 66 took his weekend analysis to 1 for 126, and Steve Watkin, who replaced Igglesden yesterday, was roughly treated for dropping too short.

However, the plus points were the performances of Ian Salisbury, whose bowling was controlled and thoughtful enough to suggest that he may yet be more than a spare part on this tour, and Chris Lewis, who has thus far been the team's spare part on the field of play.

Three of Lewis's four wickets came in the final hectic slog, but if the thought occurred (not for the first time) on Saturday that the towel he wears around his waist might be better employed for drying the dressing-room dishes, yesterday Lewis turned in his most vigorous performance for some weeks.

In Haynes's absence, the West Indies opened their innings with Jimmy Adams and Phil Simmons, whose rivalry for a place in the second Test in Guyana has been the subject of vigorous debate here. Yesterday, with Adams apparently thinking it was already a Test match, England kept the early scoring down to reasonable proportions, until Simmons suddenly cut loose against Caddick with a six and two fours off consecutive balls.

Caddick was England's best bowler during the early weeks of the tour, when the opposition was substantially more modest, and there is a school of thought that he does not respond too well when the going gets rough. Yesterday, he was a Richard Hadlee lookalike only until the ball left his hand.

There were also periods in which England's fielding did not look in- appropriate for a team sponsored by a brewery, particularly when Harper and Roland Holder were putting on 66 in eight overs. However, the West Indies were not efficient in every department themselves.

Courtney Walsh bowled such an assortment of lollipops that Alec Stewart savaged him with as fierce a display of hitting as you are likely to see at the start of a one-day innings. Walsh conceded 28 off four overs before being taken off, and when Stewart passed his 50 (42 in boundaries) Mike Atherton was 6 not out.

PORT OF SPAIN ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL SCOREBOARDS

YESTERDAY

(West Indies won toss)

WEST INDIES

P V Simmons b Salisbury. . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 (128 min, 104 balls, 12 fours, 1 six) J C Adams c Atherton b Salisbury. . . . . . . . .23 (99 min, 61 balls, 1 four) B C Lara c Stewart b Caddick. . . . . . . . . . .16 (40 min, 29 balls) K L T Arthurton c Ramprakash b Lewis. . . . . . .17 (38 min, 19 balls, 3 fours) * R B Richardson c Stewart b Salisbury. . . . . .15 (24 min, 23 balls, 1 four, 1 six) R I C Holder run out (Lewis). . . . . . . . . . .26 (40 min, 16 balls, 1 four) R A Harper c and b Lewis. . . . . . . . . . . . .37 (35 min, 33 balls, 4 fours) A C Cummins c Smith b Lewis. . . . . . . . . . . 11 (11 min, 10 balls) W K M Benjamin c Ramprakash b Lewis. . . . . . . .8 (11 min, 6 balls) K C G Benjamin not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (2 min, 0 balls) Extras (b1 lb10 w1 nb1). . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Total (for 9, 218 min, 50 overs). . . . . . . . .250

Fall: 1-89 (Adams), 2-126 (Simmons), 3- 135 (Lara), 4-164 (Richardson), 5-164 (Arthurton), 6-230 (Harper), 7-232 (Holder), 8-248 (Cummins), 9-250 (W Benjamin).

Did not bat: C A Walsh.

Bowling: Fraser 10-2-41-0 (nb1) (6-2-13- 0, 2-0-6-0, 2-0-22-0); Watkin 10-0-56-0 (5-0-25-0, 3-0-14-0, 2-0-17-0); Lewis 10- 0-35-4 (6-0-16-0, 2-0-7-1, 2-0-12-3); Caddick 10-2-66-1 (w1) (5-1-29-0, 3-1-16- 1, 2-0-21-0); Salisbury 10-0-41-3 (one spell).

Progress: 50: 64 min, 95 balls. 100: 107 min, 148 balls. 150: 155 min, 218 balls. 200: 190 min, 268 balls. 250: 217 min, 300 balls.

Simmons' 50: 90 min, 69 balls, 7 fours, 1 six.

ENGLAND

* M A Atherton b K Benjamin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 (116 min, 79 balls, 4 fours) A J Stewart b Cummins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 (44 min, 38 balls, 9 fours, 1 six) R A Smith lbw b Cummins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 (18 min, 16 balls) G A Hick not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 (99 min, 60 balls, 3 fours) M P Maynard c Adams b K Benjamin. . . . . . . . . . . . .1 (7 min, 6 balls) M R Ramprakash c Adams b Walsh. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 (14 min, 11 balls, 1 four) C C Lewis not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 (23 min, 19 balls, 2 fours) Extras (b2 lb9 w4 nb4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Total (for 5, 163 min, 36.4 overs). . . . . . . . . . .201

Fall: 1-62 (Stewart), 2-83 (Smith), 3-151 (Atherton), 4-156 (Maynard), 5-174

(Ramprakash).

Did not bat: S L Watkin, I D K Salisbury, A R Caddick, A R C Fraser.

Bowling: W Benjamin 8-1-33-0 (nb1) (6- 1-15-0 2-0-18-0); Walsh 10-0-58-1 (nb4); (4-0-28-0 6-0-30-1); Cummins 7.4-0-36-2 (w4) (5-0-26-2 2.4-0-10-0); K Benjamin 9-0-55-2 (nb4) (2-0-17-0 7-0-38-2); Harper 2-0-8-0 (1-0-6-0 1-0-2-0).

Progress: Rain stopped play 2.09-3.05pm at 3-0 (Atherton 1, Stewart 1) 2.4 overs. Revised target 201 off 40 overs. 50: in 36 min, 57 balls. 100: in 84 min, 117 balls. 150: in 115 min, 164 balls. 200: in 162 min, 229 balls.

Atherton's 50: 115 min, 77 balls, 4 fours. Stewart's 50: 41 min, 34 balls, 9 fours, 1 six.

Umpires: S A Bucknor and C E Cumberbatch.

England won on faster scoring rate.

Match referee: S M Gavaskar.

Man of the match: A J Stewart.

Adjudicator: A G Ganteaume.

WEST INDIES WIN SERIES 3-2

SATURDAY

(England won toss)

WEST INDIES

D L Haynes b Lewis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 (196 min, 112 balls, 14 fours) P V Simmons c Hick b Lewis. . . . . . . . . . . . 16 (37 min, 19 balls, 3 fours) B C Lara lbw b Fraser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 (24 min, 25 balls, 4 fours) K L T Arthurton c Stewart b Fraser. . . . . . . . .0 (2 min, 2 balls) * R B Richardson c R'kash b Caddick. . . . . . . .13 (31 min, 34 balls, 2 fours) J C Adams c Caddick b Fraser. . . . . . . . . . . 40 (86 min, 68 balls, 2 fours) R A Harper b Lewis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 (23 min, 12 balls, 5 fours) A C Cummins not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 (14 min, 7 balls, 1 six) W K M Benjamin not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0 (1 min) Extras (b4 lb4 w13 nb5). . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Total (for 7, 212 min, 45.4 overs). . . . . . . .267

Fall: 1-45 (Simmons), 2-75 (Lara), 3-75 (Arthurton), 4-98 (Richardson), 5-222 (Adams), 6-238 (Haynes), 7-265 (Harper).

Did not bat: C E L Ambrose, K C G Benjamin.

Bowling: Igglesden 3-0-16-0 (nb1 w2) (one spell); Caddick 10-0-60-1 (nb3 w1) (3-0-22-0, 3-0-3-1, 2-0-11-0, 2-2-24-0); Fraser 9.3-0-26-3 (nb1 w2) (7-0-18-2, 2- 0-7-0, 0.3-0-1-1); Lewis 9.3-1-56-3 (w2) (5-1-25-1, 3-0-20-0, 1.3-1-11-2); Salisbury 9-0-58-0 (nb1) (7-0-39-0, 2-0-19-0); Hick 4-0-33-0 (w5) (3-0-30-0, 1-0-3-0).

Progress: 50: 49 min, 63 balls. 100: 104 min, 138 balls. 150: 132 mins, 185 balls. 200: 170 mins, 233 balls. Rain stopped play at 12.43 pm.

Haynes's 50: 122 min, 66 balls, 7 fours. 100: 176 min, 102 balls, 13 fours.

ENGLAND

* M A Atherton b K Benjamin. . . . . . . . . . . . .41 (78 min, 56 balls, 5 fours) A J Stewart b K Benjamin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 (23 min, 15 balls) R A Smith b Harper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 (73 min, 59 balls, 5 fours) G A Hick c and b Harper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 (28 min, 21 balls) M P Maynard b Harper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 (17 min, 9 balls) M R Ramprakash b Ambrose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 (33 min, 25 balls, 3 fours) C C Lewis c Lara b Harper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 (9 min, 8 balls) A R Caddick not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 (29 min, 17 balls, 2 fours) I D K Salisbury b Cummins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 (6 min, 6 balls) A P Igglesden run out (Arthurton-Adams). . . . . . . 0 (2 min, 0 balls) A R C Fraser not out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 (3 min, 3 balls) Extras (b1 lb9 w11 nb2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Total (for 9, 155 min, 36 overs). . . . . . . . . .193

Fall: 1-23 (Stewart), 2-86 (Atherton), 3-110 (Smith), 4-121 (Hick), 5-130 (Maynard), 6- 145 (Lewis), 7-177 (Ramprakash), 8-184 (Salisbury), 9-184 (Igglesden).

Bowling: K Benjamin 8-0-37-2 (nb2 w2) (4-0-15-1, 4-0-22-1); Cummins 6-0-34-1 (nb1 w1) (4-0-22-0, 1-0-7-0, 1-0-5-1); Ambrose 8-0-34-1 (w2) (4-0-10-0, 2-0-13-0, 2- 0-12-1); W Benjamin 7-0-38-0 (w5) (4-0- 21-0, 3-0-17-0); Harper 7-0-40-4 (w1) (one spell).

Progress: 50: 45 min, 60 balls. 100: 91 min, 133 balls. 150: 129 min, 185 balls.

West Indies won on faster scoring rate.

Umpires: S A Bucknor and C E Cumberbatch.

Match Referee: S M Gavaskar.

Man of the match: D L Haynes.

Adjudicator: A G Ganteaume.

(Photograph omitted)

Australians fined, page 29

Frances Edmonds, page 18