Three wickets for Stuart Broad helped England to a 79-run win in the first one day international of the series against the West Indies at Lord's on Sunday. Set 226 to win the West Indies got off to the worse possible start: they lost four wickets in the first six overs before Broad snuffed out any chance of a recovery by the middle order and finished with figures of three for 20.
Broad's effort and that of Plunkett (two for 38) and Jimmy Anderson (two for 23) cancelled out a superb spell of pace bowling from West Indies' Fidel Edwards, who finished with five for 45.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo had steadied the West Indies ship slightly with a stand of 61 for the fifth wicket but Broad induced an edge behind from Bravo before bowling Denesh Ramdin two balls later.
PHOTO: AP
Dwayne Smith got an inside edge and the West Indies were 93 for seven.
Liam Plunkett and Anderson had done the early damage with Plunkett removing the dangerous West Indies captain Chris Gayle, caught hooking by Broad at long leg.
Anderson then removed Runako Morton and Marlon Samuels in the same over before running out Devon Smith with a superb throw from the deep.
Smith had slashed Plunkett past point but was beaten by Anderson's return when he was coming back for a second run and the West Indies were deep in the mire.
Chanderpaul plodded on, as he did in the recent Test series between the two sides, making 53 not out but received little or no support from his teammates apart from Bravo and Ravi Rampaul (24).
Edwards' burst of four wickets in 13 balls after a 60 minute rain interruption knocked the wind of England's sails and helped to reduce them from 181 for four, before the rain to 225 all out in 7.1 overs.
Bowling with pace and ferocity the Bajan started the collapse when he bowled England captain Paul Collingwood for five before dismissing Dimitri Mascarenhas in similar fashion.
After trapping Liam Plunkett caught behind hooking he bowled a bouncer at young Stuart Broad following up to the batsman's end of the pitch and exchanging words. This may have unnerved the Englishman as his next ball had Broad caught behind.
Owais Shah made 42 whilst all this was going on at the other end but was run out in the last over as he tried to steal the strike.
Shah was one of five of England's early batsmen who got a start and did not convert it into a significant score.
The most culpable was Ian Bell who made 56, from 75 balls with two fours, but managed to run himself out when set for a maiden one day international hundred.
Kevin Pietersen was another to get himself out when set -- he made 33 before slashing Bravo to point whilst the openers Alastair Cook (29) and Matt Prior (34) had done all the work against a swinging ball early, when runs were hard to come by, before perishing.
The second one day international in this series of three takes place in Birmingham tomorrow and the third in Nottingham on Saturday.
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