Samuels century gives Windies A 2-1 lead

West Indies A 216 for 5 (Samuels 107*) beat England A 246 (Joyce 56, Ali 65*) by five wickets (D/L)
Scorecard

Make no mistake about it, Marlon Samuels is a class act. On his day, he is capable of near magic. Yesterday was one of his days.

In blustery, overcast conditions that seemed more like Nottingham Hill than Cave Hill and more suited to the visitors than the hosts, Samuels took the third limited-overs match between West Indies A and England A into his own hands at the 3Ws Oval.

His superb unbeaten 107 off 98 balls, was laced with strokes that had shades of Lawrence Rowe written all over them. He hit nine fours and three sixes, the last of which was a magnificent hit over extra-cover that was struck immediately on passing his hundred.

In the end, West Indies won comfortably by five wickets with 3.4 overs to spare under the Duckworth/Lewis method, but when they initially set out to pursue a target of 247 in 50 overs, the expectation might have been for a closer finish.

It might have been tighter had England managed to hold on to two chances, neither of which were that difficult, when Samuels was on 47 and then 82. By the time rain intervened just before 4pm, Samuels had put the West Indies well on the way. They were 141 for 3 in the 26th over with Samuels having motored to 69.

On resumption 45 minutes later, the revised target was 216 in 42 overs and a requirement of 75 runs from 15.4 overs with seven wickets intact, might have presented problems to other West Indies teams; but Samuels, in tandem with Ryan Hinds, ensured that they would not be subjected to heartaches for the second time in a row.

Hinds, short of runs, offered vital support with 35 off 66 balls in a fourth-wicket partnership of 88 in 17.4 overs, but there was probably no need for him to go after the part-time offspin of Alex Loudon in the manner he did when a further 45 was required from 8.5 overs.

The victory have given West Indies A an important 2-1 advantage ahead of the final two matches at the Windward Club on Friday and Sunday. It was to England's credit that the 1500 spectators were given so much entertainment. A little more than an hour into the match, a no-contest appeared to be in the making.

England, sent in after the start was delayed by half-an-hour because of early morning rain, were in ruins at 75 for 5. Their early worries were caused by pacer Andrew Richardson who struck twice in his first two overs.

Richardson bowled Vikram Solanki with his first ball and also hit Loudon's stumps in his second over. He was removed from the attack after five overs which cost 15 and was surprisingly not reintroduced until the final over of the innings in which he conceded 11 runs.

By then, Kabir Ali was in full flow. Ali, batting at No.9, lashed an unbeaten 65 off 53 balls with six fours and four sixes and featured in a vital eighth-wicket partnership of 80 with Gareth Batty, who scored 36 off 49 balls.

Ali, who was dropped on eight by Samuels at slip, had earlier started the fightback with allrounder Rikki Clarke (33), and was especially severe on offspinner Narsingh Deonarine, who was belted for 22 runs in the 48th over of the innings. With Ali and Batty in full flow at the end, England were able to blast 45 runs from the last three overs.