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06-Mar-2014 02:12:00 GMT
West Indies v England, 3rd ODI, Antigua

Root Despite Ramdin as England Take Series

Antigua: A stroke-filled maiden century by Denesh Ramdin just wasn't enough as England held on to defeat the West Indies by 25 runs in the deciding third and final one-day international on Wednesday.

Ramdin's 128, the first ODI hundred by a West Indies wicketkeeper, lifted the home side from 43 for four in pursuit of a daunting target of 304 when he was last out with the total on 278, bowled by Tim Bresnan having taken 14 runs off the first three deliveries of the 48th over.

Earlier, Joe Root battled through the considerable pain of a sore right thumb -- the result of a blow inflicted by fast-medium bowler Ravi Rampaul at the start of his innings -- to stroke his first hundred in this form of the game while Jos Buttler fell one run short of his own first ODI century to take England to 303 for six.

Root, who was named man of the match, and Buttler put on 175 for the fifth wicket after the innings was at a crossroads when Sunil Narine bowled the experienced Eoin Morgan to reduce England to 116 for four in the 24th over.

The spinner came in for some rare punishment later in the innings, conceding 21 runs off his ninth over.

West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo finished with three wickets, including two off consecutive deliveries but Moeen Ali's 55 at the top of the order was necessary to avoid a complete collapse before Root and Buttler took over.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler was left to rue an attempt to sneak his 100th run in the final over as he only succeeded in spooning a catch back to the bowler Rampaul.

As in the previous two matches, the West Indies top-order batting again failed to fire and not even the inclusion of the experienced Marlon Samuels seemed capable of halting the slide.

However Ramdin played the limited-over innings of his life, dominating half-century partnerships with Bravo and Darren Sammy before taking on the improbable task virtually on his own.

Two sixes in one over off James Tredwell took him to the century-mark, yet just when it seemed England were poised to self-destruct under the pressure, Bresnan produced the perfect yorker to end Ramdin's effort and seal victory in the match and the series.

Earlier, West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo won the toss and chose to bowl.

Marlon Samuels returns at the expense of Kirk Edwards for the West Indies while Eoin Morgan replaces Luke Wright in the England side.

Although this match is being played on a different pitch to the one used for the first two fixtures, it is still expected to offer considerable assistance to the slow bowlers.

Teams

West Indies:
Dwayne Bravo (captain), Dwayne Smith, Kieran Powell, Marlon Samuels, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Nikita Miller, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul.

England: Stuart Broad (captain), Michael Lumb, Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, James Tredwell, Stephen Parry.

Brief soores
England
303 for 6 (Root 107, Buttler 99, Moeen 55)
West Indies 278 (Ramdin 128, Bresnan 3-45)
Result England won by 25 runs
MOM and Player of the series Joe Root (England)


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