England overpowered the West Indies in the first One Day
International of the summer as Ian Bell, opening the batting in place of the
retired Kevin Pietersen, smashed a superb century at the Rose Bowl, Hampshire.
Bell, recalled to the side and recovering from a chin wound suffered earlier in
the nets, smashed 12 fours and a six in an imperious 126 as England crushed the
tourists by 172 runs in a rain affected match. His century, along with useful
contributions from Jonathon Trott and Craig Kieswetter helped England to a
commanding 288 – 6 off their 50 overs, proving too much for the West Indies, as
they were bowled out for just 172. The
only resistance offered came from Dwayne Smith, who blazed a quick fire 56 at
the top of the order before a flurry of wickets ended any hope of a West Indies
victory. 
The day commenced with the West Indies winning the toss and
electing to field with conditions slightly favouring the bowlers with overcast
conditions surrounding the ever-impressive Rose Bowl stadium. Early swing
accounted for captain Alastair Cook as he nicked behind off the bowling of Ravi
Rampul from the third ball of the day for a duck. Despite the early loss, Bell
led from the front along with Jonathon Trott as the pair put together a crucial
hundred partnership. A watchful start early on from the two Warwickshire
batsmen, transformed into a calculated assault on paceman Andre Russell, with
Bell smashing a length delivery back over the bowlers head for six before
dispatching three more boundaries in the same over. With impeccable shot
selection, timing and risk free batting, the two batsmen brought up England’s
hundred before Trott edged an attempted cut to Denesh Ramdin off the spin
bowling of Sunil Narine for 42.
Ravi Bopara departed in similar fashion for just eight off
the bowling of Marlon Samuels and after a breezy 21, Eoin Morgan played onto
his stumps off the same bowler. Despite a flurry of wickets, Bell continued ostentatiously on reaching his
half-century off just 43 balls before progressing his strokeplay with more
inventive shots, off the bowling of Darren Sammy especially. Along with
Kieswetter, Bell dispatched the West Indies bowling attack all over the ground
and brought up just his second one day hundred in the 33rd over of
the innings. It was an emotional moment for the 30-year-old batsmen, answering
the critic’s, whom had earlier questioned his position in the team. As Bell
motored on into the 120’s, Robin Smith’s record England one-day score of 167
looked under threat, but Dwayne Bravo’s canny bowling brought the end to an
excellent innings with a slow full toss that was top edged to Ramdin. With Bell back in the hutch, England’s
target of 300 looked a distance away, but a superb cameo innings from
Kieswetter (38 not out) and useful contributions from Tim Bresnan (21) and
Stuart Broad (22 not out) propelled England to a very competitive score.
In reply, the tourists without the services of explosive
opener Chris Gayle due to injury lost Lendl Simmons early, chopping onto his
stumps off the bowling of James Anderson. However Smith looked in magnificent
form, mixing sublime shot selection and raw power dispatching Steven Finn and
Broad for huge sixes, as the West Indies raced to 86-1 off just 14 overs.
Bresnan however removed the dangerous Smith for 56 with a sharp bouncer, which
the batsman could only edge behind to the wicketkeeper. The Yorkshire all –
rounder quickly struck again, pinning Ramdin LBW for 22 and from then on
England dominated proceedings. Steven Finn, bowling with ferocious pace and
bounce trapped Bravo LBW with a quick and straight delivery before Eoin Morgan
produced a brilliant diving catch to remove Kieron Pollard off the bowling of
Stuart Broad. After a brief rain delay, Duckworth - Lewis came into play,
setting the tourists a revised target of 287 from 48 overs. However the target
was never in sight for the West Indies as England picked up where they left off
before the break as Samuels clipped Anderson to Graeme Swann for 30. Swann then
removed skipper Darren Sammy for 11 with a ball that bounced brutally and
catching the edge, ballooning an easy catch for Bopara. Bresnan dismissed
Russell shortly after with a ball that again bounced sharply off the surface
and Morgan making no mistake at Backward point. Rampaul was caught in the deep
for just nine off the bowling of Swann before Bresnan finished the innings off
with his fourth wicket dismissing Narine for a duck.
