ARNOS VALE, St Vincent, 6 March 2007 — Jamie Dalrymple led England to 286 for eight in their opening World Cup warm-up match against minnows Bermuda here yesterday.
England had a couple of alarms on their way to 186 for six with giant left-arm spinner Dwayne ‘Sluggo’ Leverock taking two for 32 in his maximum 10 overs as he dismissed top order stars Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen. But Dalrymple’s 76 revived England before he holed out against fellow off-spinner Delyone Borden, who finished with three for 71. Liam Plunkett was 10 not out and Sajid Mahmood 15 not out.
England won the toss in a match where both sides fielded 13 men in a bid to give squad members as much practice as possible. They soon lost openers Ed Joyce (seven) and skipper Michael Vaughan, who played attractively on his way to 18, to Kevin Hurdle (two for 58). The paceman bowled Joyce with an inswinger and had Vaughan pulling straight to Glamorgan’s David Hemp.
Although he was seen receiving attention for his hamstring problem, England insisted all was well with Vaughan.
After Ian Bell went for 46, Leverock, a member of the Bermuda police, and wicket-keeper Dean Minors then combined to take two key wickets. Collingwood was caught behind for seven and Pietersen, who like Bell faced 55 balls, was stumped for 43 to leave England 132 for five in the 25th over.
Leverock, known for his economical bowling during Bermuda’s march to the World Cup, had impressive figures of two wickets for 11 runs in five overs.
Andrew Flintoff hit a six on his way to 24 but wastefully holed out to Oliver Pitcher against off-spinner Borden. Dalrymple, as he’d done before, repaired the damage with a 66-ball fifty featuring just two fours and then struck two successive sixes off Borden.
Samuels Hits Ton and
Windies Find Their Feet
In Trelawny, Jamaica, Jamaican batsman Marlon Samuels struck a century and West Indies showed confident pre-World Cup form in their warm-up game against Kenya yesterday.
Opening batsman Chris Gayle laid the foundations for Brian Lara’s side’s total of 268 for four, the left-hander striking his way to a fifty off 66 balls in the inaugural game at the new Trelawny stadium before he was bowled by Hiren Varaiya for 75.
There was a small crowd at the 10,000 capacity venue, which will host the opening ceremony on March 11 but the stay-away fans missed some fine stroke-playing from local boy Samuels who hit nine fours and two sixes in his 91-ball century. The 26-year-old Samuels was cleared to play in the World Cup despite an International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit investigation into allegations that he passed on confidential team information to a bookmaker.
After taking the attack to the Kenyans, Samuels retired on exactly 100 with three overs remaining to allow 19-year-old debutant Kieron Pollard some time at the crease.
West Indies begin their campaign in group D against Pakistan on March 13 before going on to face Zimbabwe and Ireland as they battle to become the first hosts to win the World Cup.
South Africa Battle
Back in Warm-Up
In St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa battled back from a struggling 66 for seven to post a first innings total of 192 in the World Cup warm-up against rank outsiders Ireland.
South Africa, who head the world rankings and are firm second favorites behind Australia for the World Cup which gets under way proper on March 13 — the opening ceremony is on March 11 — were initially on the ropes against the minnows.
Captain Graeme Smith was out for nine, one of three wickets for Australian-born Dave Langford-Smith who went on to take the wickets of AB de Villiers and leading batsman Jacques Kallis.
Andy Hall, 67 not out, was chiefly responsible for saving South Africa’s blushes.
