Saturday, January 31, 2009

England draw with West Indies A

Tour match, St Kitts:
England 414 draw with West Indies A 574-8 dec & 16-0
Match scorecard

Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss fell three short of his century for England

England have drawn their tour match with West Indies A in St Kitts thanks to fine innings from captain Andrew Strauss and ex-skipper Kevin Pietersen.

Resuming on the third and final day at 134-2, England were bowled out for 414 with Strauss firing 97 and Pietersen falling 10 short of his century.

Paul Collingwood (82) also pitched in with a decent innings for the tourists.

It meant the hosts had a 160-run advantage but after adding a further 16 runs the game came to an early finish.

The match was always likely to be a draw after the hosts opted to bat beyond lunch on day two leaving England with just under four sessions to bat.

"It was not an ideal work-out but it was a pretty good one," said Strauss as the England captain looked ahead to the first Test which starts on 4 February in Jamaica.

606: DEBATE
"We head to Jamaica with just about as much as we could have got out of this practice time.

"Clearly when the Test match comes along there will be a need to raise intensity and sharpen up."

Strauss will hope to have Andrew Flintoff available for the first Test, after the all-rounder continues to recover from an injury to his left side, with the former England captain bowling the equivalent of six overs at Warner Park before play on the third day.

Once play began Pietersen was his usual free-scoring self firing a 53-ball half-century inside the opening hour.

Together with Strauss the pair looked to be heading for centuries before spinner Gavin Wallace produced a big, turning leg-break which defeated an attempted drive and hit the England captain's off-stump.

Pietersen also soon succumbed missing a delivery from off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth that he was attempting to smite to the leg-side.

Wicketkeeper Matt Prior (36) was run out for the second time in as many innings when he initially called Collingwood through for a single, but then changed his mind.

Collingwood's 50 included two sixes and three fours and came up during an 80-run stand with Prior for the sixth wicket.

His partnership with Graeme Swann was brief, the latter edging to slip off Wallace.

Collingwood fell to attacking paceman Kevin McClean when his attempted hook provided a catch on the run for wicketkeeper Devon Thomas.

Tail-enders Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Harmison both offered return catches from short balls as the final three wickets fell for seven runs.

West Indies A then returned to bat but with little time left to play, the game ended with an early handshake.

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