Magnificent Bell steals the show as England win opening One Day International.

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 33^rd 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.     

 

The result leaves the tourists with some major issues, especially with injuries to Gayle and Darren Bravo, who was forced to bat lower down the order due to a groin injury. Both are doubtful for the second one-day international on Tuesday at The Oval. However the hosts will be extremely happy with their performance and will arrive in the capital brimming with confidence after such a convincing win. Ian Bell was named Man of the match for his tremendous innings.