Cricket/England v West Indies one-day series:Shivnarine Chanderpaul engineered West Indies' victory over England at Edgbaston yesterday to set up a NatWest Series decider this weekend.
Guyanese batsman Chanderpaul made the most of his promotion to number three in the order to hit an undefeated 116, his seventh one-day international hundred, the cornerstone of the tourists' perfectly-paced 278 for five.
On a slow surface spruced up by the occasional shower, England were always behind the rate and now head to Trent Bridge on Saturday with the series locked at 1-1.
They eventually succumbed to a 61-run defeat with only Matt Prior and Owais Shah hinting at pushing their side closer.
Chanderpaul extended his extraordinary run of success against England this summer in stunning fashion: this was his seventh visit to the crease in Test and one-day international cricket on the tour and he has passed 50 every time.
England have seldom had such a problem prising one individual out. Chanderpaul followed an 18-hour spell without being dismissed in the Test series with a second unbeaten limited-overs effort.
Twice he tickled the fingertips of England fielders after a mid-innings delay for rain, the first on 43, in the second over after the resumption, when Ian Bell dived full-length at point in an attempt to intercept a fierce cut, and then a miscued aerial blow which evaded Paul Collingwood's sprawling attempt running back from extra-cover.
That second close call came during a spell of acceleration which saw Chanderpaul double his 85-ball half-century in just 29 deliveries.
England were always struggling from the moment Kevin Pietersen, who has struggled against the white ball despite his billing as the world's best one-day batsman, played around one from Ravi Rampaul.
A fortunate leg-before decision against Ian Bell had given Rampaul his first success of four and, from 64 for three in the 13th over, Prior was forced to mix aggression with consolidation.
A pulled six over the ropes at long-on off Daren Powell early in the innings was one of four boundaries in a relatively-subdued 73-ball 52 which culminated when he scooped to mid-on.
Moments later English hopes were doused when Collingwood was pinned lbw by the fiery Fidel Edwards.
Scoreboard
West Indies Innings
C Gaylec Anderson b Sidebottom 36
D Smithc Prior b Anderson 17
S Chanderpaulnot out 116
M Samuelsc Sidebottom b Broad 77
D Smithlbw b Broad 7
R Mortonc Bell b Sidebottom 3
D Ramdinnot out 2
Extras(lb5 w15) 20
Total(5 wkts, 50 overs) ... 278
Fall of wickets:1-50, 2-67, 3-242, 4-257, 5-274.
Bowling:Anderson 10-3-78-1, Sidebottom 9-1-56-2, Broad 10-0-49-2, Mascarenhas 10-1-31-0, Collingwood 5-0-30-0, Yardy 6-0-29-0.
England Innings
A Cookc Edwards b Powell 19
M Priorc D S Smith b Powell 52
I Belllbw b Rampaul 2
K Pietersenb Rampaul 9
O Shahc Ramdin b Rampaul 45
P Collingwoodlbw b Edwards 1
M Yardyc Smith b Bravo 19
A Mascarenhasc Powell b Rampaul 3
S Broadnot out 22
R Sidebottomrun out 15
J Andersonc Ramdin b Edwards 3
Extras(lb10 w13 nb4) 27
Total(46 overs) ... 217
Fall of wickets:1-23, 2-30, 3-64, 4-113, 5-117, 6-171, 7-172, 8-179, 9-195.
Bowling:Rampaul 10-0-41-4, Powell 10-0-45-2, Edwards 10-0-43-2, Smith 9-0-54-0, Bravo 7-0-24-1
West Indies beat England by 61 runs
