A capacity crowd of 28,000 packed into the Kensington Oval, Barbados on 21st April, 2007. They were there not only to witness what turned out to be a thrilling cricket match between West Indies and England but to pay their tributes to one of the game's most legendary players, one Brian Lara.

Lara, in his last international cricket game, saw his side perform with enormous credit, scoring an excellent 300 runs only to be cruelly robbed by one wicket by an equally in-form England side.

A carnival atmosphere prevailed at the ground as West Indies went into bat. The two sides had underperformed during this World Cup and both were already out of the tournament but in this no pressure situation they raised their games to new standards.

Some wonderful strokeplay by Chris Gayle and Devon Smith had the colourful crowd on its feet. Gayle was particularly impressive, hitting 79 from just 58 balls before falling to a catch by Stuart Broad, off Andrew Flintoff.

Smith (61) also fell victim to a delivery from Flintoff when he was caught by Paul Collingwood. Marlon Samuels added a further 51 before he was also caught by Collingwood, off Michael Vaughan. But while the crowd cheered every Samuels run, all eyes were on his partner, Lara.

As the legendary figure strode onto the pitch, the entire crowd stood to applaud him while the England players formed a guard of honour. But there was to be no fairytale ending to Lara's international career.

Just seven overs into his innings the West Indies captain was cruelly dismissed after a misunderstanding with Samuels, who called him for a single and then sent him back. Lara found himself stranded two yards short when Kevin Pietersen's throw from deep mid-on smashed into its target.

If looks could kill then Samuels would be at the great cricket ground in the sky after the glare he received from his captain as he trudged back to the pavilion after hitting just 18 from 17 balls.

But, with the exception of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was out for just three runs, the middle and lower order West Indies batsmen performed admirably. Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit 34 and, despite the unfortunate Lara dismissal, the team must have felt that they had done enough to set up a memorable victory.

If Lara was the focus during West Indies innings, then his counterpart Michael Vaughan was the man in the spotlight when England came into bat. Just four days earlier, Vaughan had become the first England skipper to be booed off the pitch by his own supporters since 1999.

Vaughan's humiliation came as England waved the white flag at South Africa, a match that was also played in Barbados. Against West Indies, however, Vaughan was a different kettle of fish altogether.

Having already restored some his reputation by taking three of his opponents' wickets for 39 during his ten overs, Vaughan set about the West Indies bowlers, hitting 79 from 68 balls before getting run out. 

Some of his colleagues played less well however and from a comfortable position of 154 for two after the 27th over, England lost the plot completely as they plunged to 189 for six in the next ten overs. Andrew Flintoff (15) again failed to perform and Paul Collingwood (6) was another major disappointment.

It was left to Kevin Pietersen to get his side back on track and his towering century was a joy to behold for everyone except the Windies supporters. Pietersen, who eased past 400 runs for the tournament, looked particularly good when operating with the innovative Paul Nixon who scored 38 before being removed by a Dwayne Bravo delivery.
Nixon's excellent stand took England to the brink of victory and although he was bowled by Dwayne Bravo with three runs still needed from four balls, young Broad edged England to 301 with a ball to spare.

The match was a real thriller and, once again, Barbados' Kensington Oval got the thumbs up from all who were involved. The sound of music echoed around the ground and the occasion will live long in the memories of all those cricket fans who were there.

Article by Julian Armfield, BBC World Service Sport, reporting for Totally Barbados

Article Posted On:
April 23rd, 2007

http://www.totallybarbados.com/barbados/Entertainment/Sports/Cricket/