Cook hundred guides England to series win

By Andrew Miller

Alastair Cook scored a match-winning 112 from 120 balls to secure a slice of history for his new-look England one-day team, as they wrapped up a convincing eight-wicket victory at The Oval to take an unassailable 2-0 lead into the final match of the series at Headingley on Friday.

Cook’s hundred was his third in his last six ODI matches and his fourth in 24 games as captain. In that time he has scored 1191 runs at 54.13 and a strike rate of 91.47, as England became the first team in limited-overs history to boast six consecutive centuries from their opening batsmen. 

Cook himself launched that run of form with back-to-back hundreds against Pakistan in the UAE; the now-retired Kevin Pietersen continued that run of form with a brace of his own to complete a 4-0 whitewash, before Ian Bell – who made a fluent 53 in this match – starred with 126 from 117 balls earlier this week at the Ageas Bowl.

The ease of England’s victory was remarkable given the onslaught they had to weather at the start of the match. Back in the side after missing the first ODI with a foot injury, Chris Gayle smacked five sixes in the space of 11 balls – one of them a monstrous blow onto the roof of the five-storey Barrington Stand – to set them up for a 300-plus total with 53 from 51 balls.

However, with the honourable exception of Dwayne Bravo, who made 77 from 82, few of the West Indians were able to counter the constrictive methods of England’s attack. They have now won six home ODI series on the bounce, dating back to the summer of 2010, and with 186 dot-balls in their 50-over allocation, West Indies’ failure to rotate the strike was their biggest failing.

"It's something we've talked about as a team, making sure the guys at the top of the order deliver," said Cook. "If you get off to a good start at The Oval it's quite hard to stop the scoring when you get in. I haven't done as well as I would have liked this summer, so it's nice to finally get that hundred."

The match was played in a sombre atmosphere at The Oval, following the death on Monday morning of the Surrey and England Lions batsman, Tom Maynard. Flags were flown at half-mast, both teams wore black armbands and a minute's silence was held before the start of play.

"It's been a tough 36 hours for us as a team but we handled it," said Cook.

Date: 19/06/2012 18:21:05 by AMiller
In: Today | England |