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England take 2-0 lead

Wednesday, March 24 2004

West Indies 208 & 206
England 319 & 99-3


England duly won the second test in only five overs this morning to secure the Wisden Trophy and give themselves a great chance of winning the series. Any concerns about the weather proved unfounded and they easily knocked off the remaining 28 runs needed for victory. Although it is slightly anti-climactic to win a test match in such a short period of play, that won't concern the England players one iota. They know how hard they have worked to establish a 2-0 lead in this series, and they will celebrate big-time today.


There was early drama when Adam Sanford removed Hussain with only the second ball of the day. After starting with a decent shout for LBW, he was successful with the very next ball, which took a faint edge on its way through to Jacobs. Hussain must have been frustrated to get out so close to victory, but he will know that his long innings earlier in the match did much to set it up. Sanford should have had a second wicket when he then found the edge of Thorpe's bat, but this time Jacobs dropped the ball attempting a one-handed catch. There were no runs from the rest of that over, and a subsequent maiden from Collymore maintained a degree of pressure.


It was just about conceivable that another couple of quick wickets would have made things interesting, but Thorpe removed any lingering worries by taking 12 runs from Sanford's next over with three well-struck boundaries: two off the back foot as the bowler dropped short, and one firmly driven drive. Collymore's next over yielded three singles and a no-ball to take England within 12 runs of their target. At this point, Butcher seemed determined not to be out-done by his Surrey team-mate. Three of Sanford's next six balls disappeared between cover and long-off, and the game was over.


Posted by David