England crushed by enlightened West Indies

West Indies 301 for 5 (Samuels 84, Chattergoon 81, Simmons 76) beat England 183 (Joyce 54) by 118 runs
Scorecard

West Indies A crushed England A by 118 runs in the first ODI in St Lucia. More significant than the result of a one-sided contest was that, almost three decades since day-night matches first appeared, this was the Caribbean's first game under permanent lights. The ultra-modern Beausejour Stadium, the state-of-the-art facility that was opened in 2002, hosted the match as preparations for the 2007 World Cup continue.

It was West Indies who were inspired and they scored with ease from the off after winning the toss and batting, racking up a daunting 301 for 5. Marlon Samuels (84 not out), Sewnarine Chattergoon (81) and Lendl Simmons (76) all made worthwhile contributions, and a first-wicket stand of 151 between Simmons and Chattergoon set the tone for the innings. Although Rikki Clarke dismissed them both, by then England were engaged on a damage-limitation exercise, and for a time it seemed they would restrict West Indies too around 270. Although Sylvester Joseph then fell cheaply to give Clarke his third wicket, the balance swung back to West Indies as Samuels smacked an unbeaten run-a-ball 69 at the death.

England made a promising start as Ed Joyce, who had to keep in the absence of Chris Read, and Alex Loudon put on 30 for the first wicket. But Loudon's dismissal triggered a collapse which ended the game as a contest, five wickets falling for 22 runs as Darren Sammy and Richard Kelly ripped the heart out of the innings.

Joyce kept battling, reaching a gutsy fifty as he added 81 runs for the sixth wicket with Gareth Batty, but both fell in quick succession and a doughty eight-wicket stand between Alex Wharf and Kabir Ali merely delayed the inevitable.