Whirlwind Gayle blows hot to leave England out in the cold

England 285-7 West Indies 286-3 West Indies win by 7 wkts

England were unceremoniously dumped out of the NatWest Series yesterday at Lord's when the West Indies successfully completed the second highest run-chase at the ground.

England were unceremoniously dumped out of the NatWest Series yesterday at Lord's when the West Indies successfully completed the second highest run-chase at the ground.

England, through the efforts of Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss - who each scored hundreds in a record-breaking stand of 226 - had set Brian Lara's side the daunting target of 285 but it failed to check determined opponents who eased into Saturday's final with seven wickets and five balls to spare.

The hitting of Chris Gayle may not have matched that of Flintoff or Strauss, who hit eight sixes between them, but the West Indian opener batted beautifully during his unbeaten innings of 132. It was his partnership of 187 with Ramnaresh Sarwan which guided the tourists to a comfortable win.

The joy of Lara's team could be seen when Ricardo Powell scampered the winning single. The balcony of the visitors' dressing-room was empty but this was because his team-mates, Lara included, were sprinting towards the batsmen after watching the final run from the gate of the pavilion.

This victory can only have increased the belief of Lara's young, indisciplined but talented team. No matter what happens against New Zealand here on Saturday, the West Indies have been a better team than England during the last three matches and they can now enter the Test series with confidence.

This defeat leaves England with plenty to think about. There are three positives to be taken from this series: the batting of Strauss and Flintoff has been superb, and the bowling of Stephen Harmison continues to improve. But there are still far too many areas where England look lightweight and their tactics or selection look confused.

Michael Vaughan has had a miserable time and there must be doubts over his future opening the batting. Robert Key failed to impress at three and the batting of these two has put Marcus Trescothick under enormous pressure.

"It has been a terrible series for me," admitted Vaughan, the captain. "I have hardly scored a run and I am disappointed for the team because along with Tres [Trescothick] it is my job to get us off to a good start. In the last three games we have played some good cricket and we are not about to press the panic button.

"We are not that far off being a good team - a few months ago we did not have Strauss or Harmison but now we have them both and Freddie [Flintoff], who is developing into a phenomenal player. It is especially hard for Freddie because he has finished on the losing side twice after scoring hundreds."

Despite Vaughan's upbeat summary of England's situation, his side are some way from being a good team and how they may have fared without Flintoff, whom they called up out of desperation after their second defeat, does not bear thinking about.

This loss may have cost Vaughan's side a place in the final but there was no disgrace in losing this exciting match. England's problems began at the start of the tournament, when they were bowled out for 147 and 101. Then, England's batting was dreadful and they were guilty of not giving the bowlers a target to defend. But in their last two games it has been the bowlers' inability to defend totals which has cost a place in the final.

For the second match in a row England were indebted to Flintoff and Strauss. After losing the toss England were again in trouble when the pair came together. Trescothick was beaten for pace by Tino Best, and had his stumps flattened whilst Vaughan played a careless drive at the same bowler and was caught behind. Strauss and Robert Key attempted to consolidate but England scored four runs in 29 balls between the 10th and 15th over. Key's investment failed to mature when the right-hander had his bails trimmed by a nip-backer from Dwayne Smith.

This was the West Indians' last success for 31 overs. Strauss and Flintoff were watchful to begin with. Flintoff got off the mark with a cut for four but only 24 runs came in the pair's first six overs.

But the pair increased the run rate as they became accustomed to the pace and bounce of this excellent pitch. Sixty three runs were taken off the next 10 overs and England looked able to post a score in the region of 230.

It was then that Flintoff and Strauss increased the stakes. Strauss pulled Smith for six and Flintoff hacked Dwayne Bravo over the wide long-on boundary twice in consecutive overs. Four overs brought 36 runs.

But this was just a taster for the final six overs of England's innings. Lara said that his bowling was inexperienced and this showed when the 45th and 46th over were hit for 48 runs. Strauss hit three fours and a six off Bravo's final over but Flintoff surpassed this, striking the final two balls of Smith's spell for six.

The first of these travelled like a scud missile over midwicket. It took Flintoff to his second one-day hundred with his second 50 runs coming off 32 balls. The Lancashire all-rounder hit the next ball even further but England had to wait until the 48th over before they cleared the ropes.

Again it was Flintoff but on this occasion Gayle who looked on helplessly. Strauss completed his maiden one-day century for England in the 50th over and became the first player to score a hundred in his first Test and one-day hundred at the ground. Both perished to Gayle's off-spin as four wickets were lost in frantic finale.

Sat in the dressing-room England would have felt they had enough. They didn't.