West Indies A sneak home in a thriller

West Indies A 253 and 366 for 9 (Samuels 118, Joseph 106, Mahmood 4-51) beat England A 386 and 231 by one wicket
Scorecard

In a thriller, West Indies A sneaked home by one wicket against England A on the fourth and final day of the first unofficial Test at Antigua. Needing 330 more runs to win on the final day, the West Indies chase was powered by centuries from Marlon Samuels and Sylvester Joseph, the captain, with their 194-run fourth-wicket partnership taking the game away from England. Subsequently, however, West Indies were precariously placed at 351 for 9, but Jermaine Lawson and Carlton Baugh weathered the storm and took them to the target of 365.

Samuels joined Lendl Simmons at the crease early, after Dale Richards was caught off Sajid Mahmood. Simmons played a fluent knock of 45, hitting a six and five boundaries before edging the ball to Chris Read, the wicketkeeper, off Kabir Ali. Samuels found a steady partner in Joseph, adding 43 as they progressed to 126 for 3 at lunch. England, who in fairness have at times not been sure who is exactly playing for them (due to late withdrawals), such have been the comings and goings, were so short that they had to recruit a local teenager to field for them.

The second session was a real struggle for England as they were unable to dislodge the pair. By tea, the score read 259 for 3, with the pair adding 176 valuable runs and victory was always in sight. The aggressive intentions were evident, with Samuels striking three sixes and 15 fours in his innings of 118, his fifth first-class century. Joseph too asserted his authority, given that over 50% of his runs came off boundaries.

England struck back soon after tea, as Samuels was deceived by a slower ball from Rikki Clarke, and was caught by Michael Yardy. Joseph succumbed to Gareth Batty for 106, with his side still needing 73 to win.

Baugh, the wicketkeeper, refused to let the fall of wickets deter his aggression and with Richard Kelly, the pair took the score to 348 and West Indies seemed to be coasting towards a sure win. It was at this juncture that Mahmood bowled an inspiring spell and almost turned things around.

He got Kelly to edge the ball to Read for 22. Two balls later, he scalped Dave Mohammad in a similar fashion and bagged his fourth wicket in the innings. West Indies lost their third wicket for as many runs when Tino Best was run-out by a direct throw. Fourteen runs were still needed for victory, but Lawson and Baugh retained their composure, with Lawson scoring the winning runs driving Clarke through the off side for a boundary.