Hat-trick hero Flintoff

Philip MITCHELL

CRICKET: GROS ISLET, St Lucia, April 4, 2009 - Andrew Flintoff grabbed a hat-trick to lead England to a 26-run victory over West Indies on Friday and a first ever one-day international series triumph in the Caribbean.

Flintoff claimed his hat-trick when he removed Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul and Sulieman Benn off successive balls in the 27th over, before finishing with career-best figures of five wickets for 19 runs from five overs.

His spell swung the match decisively, as England bowled West Indies out for 146 in 28 overs in a match reduced to 29 overs due to rain that delayed the start of the match. The result meant that England won the series 3-2.

"It has been a long,hard tour and to come out at the end with something is pretty special," England skipper Andrew Strauss said.

	ENGLAND
    (maximum 29 overs)
A. Strauss c Bravo b Rampaul 		 03
R. Bopara c Ramdin b Pollard 		 44
K. Pietersen c Sammy b Benn 		 48
O. Shah c Simmons b Benn 		 06
P. Collingwood not out 			 35
A. Flintoff c Chanderpaul b Pollard 	 03
M. Prior not out 			 25
Extras (lb3, w4, nb1) 			 08
Total (5 wkts, 29 overs) 		172

Did not bat: D. Mascarenhas, S. Broad, S. Harmison, J. Anderson. 

Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Strauss); 2-88 (Pietersen); 3-104 (Bopara); 4-107 
		(Shah); 5-112 (Flintoff).

Bowling: Edwards 2-0-17-0 (w1); Rampaul 4-0-19-1 (w1); Bravo 5-0-31-0 (nb1, w1);
	 Pollard 5-0-31-2; Sammy 6-0-45-0 (w1); Benn 6-0-23-2; Gayle 1-0-3-0. 

	WEST INDIES

C. Gayle c Flintoff b Anderson 			 00
L. Simmons c Broad b Flintoff 			 17
R. Sarwan c Prior b Flintoff 			 23
S. Chanderpaul c sub (I Bell) b Collingwood 	 13
D. Bravo c Flintoff b Broad 			 33
K. Pollard c Collingwood b Anderson 		 30
D. Ramdin b Flintoff 				 12
D. Sammy run out 				 07
R Rampaul lbw b Flintoff 			 00
S. Benn b Flintoff 				 00
F. Edwards not out 				 02
Extras (b1, lb3, w5) 				 09
Total (all out; 28 overs) 			146

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Gayle), 2-40 (Sarwan), 3-45 (Simmons), 4-69 (Chanderpaul), 
		5-124 (Bravo), 6-124 (Pollard), 7-140 (Ramdin), 8-140 (Rampaul), 9-140 
		(Benn), 10-146 (Sammy). 

Bowling: Anderson 6-0-34-2 (2w), Broad 6-0-32-1 (1w), Flintoff 5-0-19-5, 
		  Harmison 3-0-17-0 (2w), Mascarenhas 4-0-16-0, Collingwood 4-0-24-1.

Series: England 3-2.

Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) and Norman Malcolm (WIS).

TV umpire: Clancy Mack (WIS). Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND). 
		

AFP