England win keeps Cup hopes alive

2011-03-17 19:54:45

England kept their World Cup campaign alive with a dramatic 18-run win over the West Indies in Chennai.

Jonathan Trott (47) gave England a fast start but wickets tumbled in the middle overs and they were dismissed for 243.

The Windies looked to be cruising to victory at 222-6 in the 42nd over, but amazingly collapsed to 225 all out.

The win means England are through to the quarter-finals unless Bangladesh beat South Africa and the West Indies get at least a point against India.

For the sixth match in succession, England were involved in a rollercoaster of a contest, which swung back and forth right through to the end.

Having reduced the Windies to 150-6, they were favourites to win the match, only for Ramnaresh Sarwan and Andre Russell to seemingly take the game away from them in a partnership of 72.

But after Russell fell leg before wicket for 49 to give man-of-the-match James Tredwell his fourth wicket, the Caribbean side crumbled in calamitous fashion.

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Two overs later, Graeme Swann (3-36) had Sarwan caught at short leg by Ian Bell and Kemar Roach holed out to Chris Tremlett in the deep.

A breathless passage of play was complete when the Windies' final pair attempted a risky second run and Sulieman Benn was run out after a fine throw from Trott to spark riotous celebrations in the England camp.

Captain Andrew Strauss and his men now face a nervous weekend, with Bangladesh facing the Proteas in Dhaka on Saturday and the Windies rounding off the group stage against India in Chennai.

But assuming at least one of those games goes the way of India or South Africa, England will be two victories away from the World Cup final.

Summarising on BBC Radio's Test Match Special, former England captain Michael Vaughan said Strauss's side should not be ruled out in an open tournament lacking a truly outstanding team.

"You wouldn't think England are playing well enough at the moment to win the World Cup, and they haven't yet produced an all-round performance - but they've proved that in these tight games, all you need is to score one more than the opposition," he said.

England's batting performance was a patchy affair, featuring an uncharacteristically aggressive knock from Trott, a middle order collapse, and a handy cameo from Luke Wright.

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E-mail this to a friend Printable version ENGLAND Team guide Pick your own England XI England and Wales Cricket Board WEST INDIES Team guide BBC Caribbean Service Pick your West Indies XI West Indies Cricket Board see also Swann thought England's World Cup was over 17 Mar 11 |  Cricket Agnew at the World Cup 17 Mar 11 |  Cricket Strauss proud of England spirit 17 Mar 11 |  England England v West Indies as it happened 17 Mar 11 |  England Shahzad to miss rest of World Cup 17 Mar 11 |  England Bangladesh rally to shock England 11 Mar 11 |  England Ireland are beaten by West Indies 11 Mar 11 |  Ireland England stun S Africa in thriller 06 Mar 11 |  England Cricket World Cup 2011 09 Mar 11 |  Cricket related bbc links: Cricket World Cup on the BBC BBC World Service's enhanced match scorecards BBC Sport on your mobile Test Match Special blog Test Match Special podcast Download our cricket masks related internet links: England and Wales Cricket Board World Cup 2011 BBC World Cup on Twitter Test Match Special photos on flickr International Cricket Council The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Skip to top PRODUCTS & SERVICES Daily and weekly e-mails Mobiles Desktop Tools News feeds Interactive TV Podcasts A-Z of Sports American Football Archery Athletics Badminton Baseball Basketball Bowls Boxing Canoeing Cricket Cycling Darts Disability sport Diving Equestrian Fencing Football Formula 1 Gaelic Games Golf Gymnastics Handball Hockey Horse Racing Ice Hockey Judo Modern Pentathlon MotoGP Motorsport Netball Rowing Rugby League Rugby Union Sailing Shooting Snooker Squash Swimming Table Tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball Weightlifting Winter Sports Wrestling blq.setLabel('searchSuggestion', 'Search BBC Sport');

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