Cricket:England coasted to a ten-wicket victory inside three days at Lord's to go 1-0 up in their two-Test series against West Indies.
Debutant seamer Graham Onions’ match haul of seven for 102, Graeme Swann’s maiden 50 and six for 55 over two innings, and 143 in his first attempt at number three from Ravi Bopara were the performances which overwhelmed the tourists.
After belated resistance from Brendan Nash (81) and Denesh Ramdin (61) in the only century stand from either side, West Indies today reached a patchy 256 all out after following on.
England were therefore at least required to bat twice to take a series lead against opponents who beat them 1-0 in the Caribbean over the winter.
But despite Fidel Edwards’ six for 92 in England’s first-innings 377, West Indies could never get a worthwhile foothold in the match.
Ultimately, it was left to home captain Andrew Strauss and his opening partner Alastair Cook to knock off the 32 runs England needed.
They did so with little fuss, kick-starting Andy Flower’s permanent tenure as coach on a winning note at the start of an Ashes summer.