- The Guardian, Tuesday 4 May 2010
Paul Collingwood, England's Twenty20 captain, trudges off the field of play after his side lost their opening game against West Indies. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty Images
England were beaten by West Indies in their first match of the tournament in bizarre circumstances as the rain that had already disrupted the day's first match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe returned to create havoc. On off, on off. England, who had belted 191 for five from their 20 overs, found themselves, thanks to Duckworth-Lewis, attempting to prevent West Indies from scoring 30 runs from 22 deliveries with all wickets intact.
That they made them sweat until the penultimate ball of the final over, when Andre Fletcher swatted away the winning single and, to the acclaim of the jam packed crowd, ran through arms aloft, did them credit.
The intimidating figure of Chris Gayle and the stiletto-sharp Shivnarine Chanderpaul had earlier added 30 from the first 14 balls of the innings before the rain set in and the charts came out, leaving England on a hiding to nothing. Gayle's decision to field first on winning the toss, in the knowledge of the weather to come, was crucial. West Indies won by eight wickets but, like Sri Lanka earlier in the day, gained their victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method and have now qualified for the Super Eights.
England have to beat Ireland tomorrow which, given the feeble nature of the Irish batting the other day, ought not to prove a problem. But the weather could yet play a further mischievous part. A washout would see England through on a greatly superior run rate, but they will be wary of another D-L anomaly.
Having made the runs they did, which included 60 for one by the end of the first powerplay, the highest of the tournament so far, they deserved better than the final passage of play. It was their fifth highest Twenty20 total and only 11 short of their score in Johannesburg last November.
Tim Bresnan was in the middle of an over when England were forced off and he completed it for the further addition of three runs. Now Graeme Swann took over, hampered by a damp ball. When Gayle swung the second ball mightily over wide long-on and into the squirming crowd in the party stand, the game seemed up. But next ball Swann induced a gentle catch to midwicket and when, from a wide down the leg side, the mighty-hitting T20 millionaire Kieron Pollard was brilliantly stumped by Craig Kieswetter, who timed his flick perfectly to coincide with a lift of the foot (stumped without facing a ball must be a rare dismissal), there was a vague chance West Indies might mess up. Swann will swear he had a hat-trick – from two deliveries, another rarity – when Fletcher was struck on the pad.
Next Paul Collingwood turned to Michael Yardy to dart the ball in with his left-armers. Six singles accrued and the target was reduced to eight from the final over, to be bowled by Stuart Broad. A single and a brilliant scampered two as Chanderpaul took on the danger at the bowler's end were followed by an unproductive swish by Fletcher. Collingwood brought up his off-side and told Broad to bowl straight. He obliged but on a length giving Fletcher the chance to swing away over the leg side to the boundary.
"We are very, very frustrated," said Collingwood afterwards, and who can blame him? "95% of the time, 191 would be enough," he continued, "but with D/L it wasn't. They need a different calculation."
England had batted with the sort of panache that Andy Flower had been seeking with Michael Lumb belting four boundaries before Kieswetter had received a ball and the keeper himself then hitting three sixes and a four. Kevin Pietersen kept the momentum going with 24 – including a remarkable one-handed six over square- leg – before he holed out in the deep but there was a rare failure for Collingwood which left England at 88 for four.
If the England batting looks to have depth without real class down the order, a fifth-wicket stand of 95 in 56 balls between Eoin Morgan, who hit three sixes and three fours in 55 from 35 balls, and Luke Wright, who in rather more robust fashion eventually started to connect, hitting four sixes and a four in an unbeaten 45, showed how dangerous they can be.