Dyson hails West Indies win

John Dyson, the West Indies coach, has heaped praise on his side following their seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Trinidad. In a rain-affected match, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels guided West Indies to a facile win, chasing down a revised 125 from 25 overs with 27 balls to spare, and in doing so they took the series.

"The guys did a sensational job overall," Dyson said. "We bowled well and fielded well. There were a couple little errors that we would like to avoid, but overall the fielding effort was very, very good. When we batted, the experience of Chanderpaul and Samuels was perfect. They batted superbly."

Samuels and Chanderpaul cantered home in an unbeaten stand of 107, rescuing West Indies from a potentially perilous 18 for 3, and Dyson reserved special praise for Samuels. His 54 contained three towering sixes, continuing the excellent form he showed in South Africa last month.

"I've been saying all along that in the nets, Marlon has looked in great form," Dyson said. "Within himself, he has been relaxed and confident about his ability. It was a superb innings he played under a bit of pressure because of all the talk that has been going on and because we lost a couple of wickets with the new ball. He played the match perfectly. It just goes to show that Marlon has great skill.

"Every series is important," Dyson added. "I've always said that at international level, your aim is to win the series. "Our group of guys has been working hard for some time and I'm really pleased for them that they've been able to put it together in front of their home crowd."

The last one-dayer gets underway on Tuesday.