… Morgan hits half-century
HOSTS West Indies booked their place in the Super Eight of the ICC World T20 competition when they defied the rain to scrape a Duckworth-Lewis win over England  in a Group D fixture at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, yesterday. Yesterday’s defeat now leaves England to face a Providence shootout today with Ireland for their passage to a Super Eight place.
The West Indies, who had defeated Ireland by 70 runs in their first match, won the toss and asked their opponents to bat and must have regretted that decision, as England raced to 50 from 4.5 overs, thanks to some clean hitting from openers Michael Lumb (28) and Craig Kieswetter (26) and then later a belligerent 55 from middle-order batsman Eoin Morgan before ending on 191-5 from their 20 overs against the bowling of Darren Sammy who took 2-22.
Chasing a revised target of 60 runs from six overs on the Duckworth/Lewis System, the second time the system was used for the day, the West Indies finished on 60-2 from 5.5 overs, with skipper Christopher Gayle leading the way with a pugnacious 25 (2×4, 2×6) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul 15 (1×6) with Graeme Swann taking both wickets to fall for 24 runs.
The English opening batsmen took the attack to the spin/pace combination used by the home team, with Lumb hitting Ravi Rampaul through midwicket for four, followed by an audacious front foot drive through extra cover for another boundary, as the disciplined bowling and fielding, displayed by the Windies against Ireland, were missing.
Sulieman Benn conceded five runs in the first over of the match, but the 30-year-old Lumb who scored 442 runs at an average of 160.72 for Hampshire, struck him past Christopher Gayle who was stationed at midwicket twice for four.
Gayle introduced himself into the attack and he too was struck for a four by Lumb, before he knocked back the off stump of the left-handed opener to leave England on 36-1 in the fourth over, which was pushed to 42-1 as Kieswetter struck Miller over long off for the first maximum of the match.
His second in the same area off the same bowler, raised England’s 50 from 4.5 overs, before Miller had his man lbw to one that pitched and straightened for a fiery innings that was decorated with three sixes and one four.
Two quick wickets by Windies first-match hero Darren Sammy, who removed skipper Paul Collingwood (6) and Kevin Pietersen 24, reduced England to 88-4 in the 10th over of their innings, with Pietersen holing out to Ramnaresh Sarwan on the deep midwicket boundary, after hitting the previous delivery over square leg for six.
A Morgan top-edge for six off Dwayne Bravo raised the 100 in the 13th over and that was followed by two more sixes off Kieron Pollard, as England moved to 131-4 after 16 overs and when Morgan greeted Bravo with a straight drive back along the ground for four, the 50 partnership was realised between himself and Luke Wright.
A six from Morgan completed Bravos’ over while at the other end, a hat-trick of sixes struck off successive deliveries from Rampaul followed by a reverse sweep for four, propelled England to 172-4, as 27 runs were taken off the over, with England’s third 50 coming off 4.4 overs.
Morgan dutifully brought up his half-century, when he steered Benn past the vacant slip position for two, facing 32 deliveries and hitting two fours and three sixes in the process and celebrated with a reverse sweep for four off the same bowler two balls later.
A diving catch by Pollard in the sweeper position accounted for Morgan who was looking to hit Bravo over extra cover for his fourth six off the 35th ball he faced, falling for a pugnacious 55 which was decorated with three fours and a similar number of sixes, but most importantly to the English dressing room, he added 95 valuable runs for the fifth wicket with Wright.
A Wright four, two balls after Morgan departed, ensured England finished on 191-5 from their 20 overs, with Wright himself finishing unbeaten on 45 which was decorated with four sixes and one four off 27 deliveries, as England scored 86 runs from their final seven overs for the loss of Morgan’s wicket.
As he did against Ireland, Sammy who was later declared the man-of-the-match for the second successive match, led the bowling for the host nation with his 2-22 off his four overs of medium pace, as the other bowlers struggled with both their line and length on a slow Providence track in overcast conditions.
Chasing a huge 192 to win, Gayle got things started with two fours off Ryan Sidebottom, with the second being an audacious and authoritative front foot drive between extra cover and mid off, followed by an injudicious six struck over long off as the Windies bettered England’s start by scoring 15 off the first over, sending a packed-to-capacity venue into a frenzy.
At the other end of the pitch, dependable middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul who has made the reverse sweep a priority in his batting armoury, played same and succeeded with a maximum over point off Graeme Swann as the home team reached 26 without loss at the end of two overs.
When rain interrupted play for the third time of the day, the West Indies who made it to the semifinals of the 2009 tournament held in South Africa, were 30-0 with Gayle on 16 (2×4, 2×6) and Chanderpaul 10 (1×6) from 2.2 overs.
Play was restarted at 16:49 h with the West Indies needing 30 more runs to win from 22 deliveries under the D/L System and Gayle in his own way, struck Swann over midwicket for six, but lost his wicket caught by Michael Yardy off the next delivery for 25 (2×4, 2×6).
Pollard (0) followed soon after, stumped off a leg-side wide delivery as he failed to keep his back foot down and was smartly stumped by Kieswetter, leaving the West Indies on 42-2 from 3.3 overs.
Andre Fletcher joined Chanderpaul and they commenced the final over bowled by Stuart Broad with the hosts needing eight runs to win and after missing a wild pull shot, Fletcher connected to a short-pitched delivery which went for four, much to the delight of the home crowd who refused to take their seats.
Victory was sealed by the home team off the next delivery which was cut through point by Fletcher, who was unbeaten on 12 (1×4), while his more illustrious partner Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 15 (1×6) at the other end against Swann’s bowling as the off-spinner ended with 2-24 from two overs.
Action in the tournament continues today with New Zealand opposing Zimbabwe from 09:30 h while England and her neighbours Ireland will battle for the runner-up position in Group D, along with a place in the Super Eight.

ENGLAND innings
M. Lumb b Gayle    28
C. Kieswetter lbw b Miller    26
K. Pietersen c Sarwan b Sammy    24
P. Collingwood b Sammy    6
E. Morgan c Pollard b Bravo    55
L. Wright not out    45
T. Bresnan not out    0
Extras: (b-1, lb-1, w-3, nb-2)    7
Total: (five wickets, 20 overs)    191
Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-66, 3-81, 4-88, 5-183.
Bowling: Benn 3-0-23-0, Rampaul 3-0-52-0 (nb-2, w-2), Gayle 1-0-11-1, Miller 4-0-29-1, Sammy 4-0-22-2 (w-1), Bravo 4-0-36-1, Pollard 1-0-16-0.
WEST INDIES innings
C. Gayle c Yardy b Swann    25
S. Chanderpaul not out    15
K. Pollard stp. K
ieswetter b Swann    0
A. Fletcher not out    12
Extras: (w-8)    8
Total: (two wickets, 5.5 overs)    60
Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-42.
Bowling: Sidebottom 1-0-15-0 (w-1), Swann 2-0-24-2 (w-3), Bresnan 1-0-7-0 (w-2), Yardy 1-0-6-0, Broad 0.5-0-8-0.