LONDON, 26 September 2004 — Brian Lara’s West Indies held their nerve in near darkness to beat England by two wickets in a dramatic Champions Trophy final yesterday and lift their first major One-Day title for 25 years.
The West Indians, in what is likely to be Lara’s last international match in England, dismissed the home side for 217, Marcus Trescothick contributing a century, then fought back from 147 for eight to triumph in front of a stunned Oval crowd.
Tailenders Ian Bradshaw (34 not out) and Courtney Browne (35 not out), to their credit, refused to go off when offered the light and put together a 71-run ninth-wicket stand to seal an unlikely victory with seven balls to spare.
Both recorded career-best One-Day International scores. Left-arm quick Bradshaw, who completed bowling figures of two wickets for 54, was named man of the match. West Indies’ last success at the top level came with their World Cup victories in 1975 and 1979.
England, the world’s only leading side not to have won a World Cup or Champions Trophy, looked certain of victory before Bradshaw and Browne’s extraordinary performance.
Twenty four runs were needed off the last five overs and 17 off the last three, with England’s strike bowlers Steve Harmison and Andy Flintoff, who had shared five top-order wickets, bowled out.
The match never got to the final over. With 12 needed, Alex Wharf, bowling the 49th, sent down a no-ball and was hit for two fours before a disbelieving Lara led his men on a lap of honor.
The agony was most acute for Trescothick. He scored 104 off 124 balls and hit 14 fours on a pitch assisting seam and swing. No other batsman on either side scored a half-century. The left-handed opener even chipped in with a wicket with his occasional medium-pacers.
Not long before, the crowd had already been warming up with their England victory chants.
Harmison, with two wickets, and Flintoff, with three, had ripped out the West Indies top order to reduce them to 80 for five.
Lara seemed certain to regret a wild shot that limited him to 14 runs. The 35-year-old is not expected back to England, with West Indies not due to visit again until 2010 but by the end he wore the largest smile of all.
The rest of the day had been dominated by spectacular catches. Lara’s breathtaking dismissal of Flintoff, his 100th in One-Dayers, took the honors.
Posted at short midwicket, he somehow held a tracer-like pull low to his left hand off a Wavell Hinds long hop. All rounder Flintoff, with three centuries and a 99 in his last seven One-Dayers, made just three.
He looked stunned as Lara was mobbed by his teammates in scenes that were to be repeated in the evening.
Lara finished with three catches, also accounting for Geraint Jones and Ashley Giles who made 31 in a 63-run stand with Trescothick for the seventh wicket to give the home side a fighting chance.
Lara also had a hand in Trescothick’s run-out following his ninth ODI hundred as England’s innings ended with two balls remaining.
Gilchrist Cautious as Australia Arrive in India
Australia’s stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist has warned his players not to worry too much about the team’s repeated failures to win a Test series in India. Gilchrist thinks Tests against India have acquired a certain aura in recent years and he expects the four-game series starting on Oct. 6 to be no different.
“The rivalry has really grown and built into its own sort of thing that’s exciting for all of us,” he said as the Australians arrived in India yesterday. Gilchrist is leading the side in the absence of regular captain Ricky Ponting, who will miss at least the first Test in Bangalore because of a broken thumb.
India’s Sachin Tendulkar could also miss the first Test because of tennis elbow. “I don’t think that is going to make people lose interest in the series,” Gilchrist said.
Woolmer Blames Failed Tactic on Advice From “High Sources”
Pakistan’s much criticized English coach Bob Woolmer yesterday defended the decision to bat first in the ICC Champions Trophy match it lost to the West Indies, saying it was based on advice from “high sources”.
“Our original plan was to put the West Indies in, if we won the toss and to chase, but the advice we had when we got there was contrary to that and it came from a couple of high sources,” Woolmer said in Lahore in an interview after the team’s return.
Woolmer and captain Inzamam-ul Haq were criticized for choosing to field first after winning the toss in the semifinal match against the West Indies in England on Wednesday.
Woolmer did not name anyone for influencing the decision.
