Coach causes West Indies' biggest headache

West Indians 274 for 8 (Sarwan 79, Lara 68, Chanderpaul 60, Saggers 5-51) beat Kent 183 (Smith 54, Lawson 4-59) by 91 runs
Scorecard

West Indies found out that traveling by road in the UK can be a rather haphazard affair as a combination of roadworks and a less-than-geographically-aware coach driver meant they arrived late for their warm-up match against Kent. The delay didn't seem to affect their performance, however, as they romped to a 91-run victory in front of 7,000 spectators at Beckenham.

Local organisers were left slightly flustered as the visitors' team bus wasn't sighted until 15 minutes after the scheduled 11am start. After a flurry of dressing-room activity more befitting a club second team on a Sunday afternoon, West Indians were finally ready almost 45 minutes late. After losing Chris Gayle to the second ball of the match, they never looked back.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (79), Brian Lara (68) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (60) all struck easy half-centuries against a weak Kent attack, with only Martin Saggers (5 for 51) posing any real difficulties. Lara was particularly entertaining, cracking seven fours in his 53-ball 68, adding 99 for the fourth wicket with Sarwan as West Indians posted 274 for 8.

Kent's second-string batsmen were no match for West Indians' bowlers. Jermaine Lawson and Dwayne Bravo worked up a fair head of steam, and Ravi Rampaul's six-over burst also impressed and his movement off the pitch accounted for both Alex Loudon and David Fulton. Only Ed Smith (54) looked capable of offering any sustained resistance, but Kent were never in the chase, eventually being bowled out for 183.

The only concern for West Indians came when Tino Best limped off with a possible strain to his right hamstring.