England play West Indies in the second ODI of the three matches to be hosted at the Oval in London on Tuesday.
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Despite the obviously powerful-looking West Indian batting line-up, they collapsed because of scoreboard pressure and the fact that Chris Gayle was absent from the 11.
Hopefully Gayle will be fit to join the team for this second game as West Indies (6/5 at
Blue Square) look to prevent the ODI series going the same way as the Tests. England are 1-0 ahead and a win for them in this game will give them the series.
Ian Bell was England’s (8/11 at
BetVictor) star in the first ODI, grabbing his opportunity with both hands. Asked to join the 11 and open the innings after Kevin Pietersen announced his retirement from this format, Bell smashed a 117-ball 126. His century stand with Jonathon Trott at three helped England through to a solid 288 in their 50 overs and West Indies fell way short.
Dwayne Smith opened the innings for the visitors with Lendl Simmons and did a good job of getting a half-century. Unfortunately for him, the next best was a 30 from Marlon Samuels as none of the other batsmen provided any kind of support.
West Indies collapsed from 95/1 to 172 all out with Tim Bresnan bagging four wickets and James Anderson and Graeme Swann sharing two apiece.
West Indies will also be a tad bothered by their not-so-frugal nature of bowling. Barring the two spinners, Sunil Narine and Samuels, everyone else conceded aplenty and did not manage to pick up wickets.
Opening the bowling with Andre Russell did not look like an excellent idea and it may necessitate a change in tactics from the visitors. An extra, frontline seam bowler could be the need of the hour.
The England v West Indies 2nd ODI begins at 10.45 am local time on June 18.
