Enigma Bopara stays cool in tricky chase

Ravi Bopara  has been an England batting enigma: a man proud of his streetwise upbringing in East London but rarely able to bring that sense of astuteness to the 22 yards of turf that will make or break his cricketing reputation. But Bopara was calmness personified in Antigua as England batsmen flapped all around him and his unbeaten 38 secured a desperately-needed victory in a mundane contest.

This three-match series will be settled on the same ground on Wednesday and one hopes it will be more enthralling than this. At least England's stumbling display racked up the tension before they edged home by three wickets with more than five overs to spare. After a winter like the one they have endured, they will accept the win with relief.

A year ago, the England side contesting this ODI series in the Caribbean would have been presumed to be a 2nd XI. That might be regarded by some as an alibi, as a reason for patience, but without Bopara's poise, skittishly supported in an eighth-wicket stand of 58 by his captain Stuart Broad on a day when his luck was in, it would also have been presented as proof of the pitiful levels to which England's one-day cricket has sunk.

A turgid pitch, an eminently achievable target of 160 for all that, a maladroit batting performance: such was the story of a humdrum match in which England combined bewilderment against the spin of Sunil Narine with a series of soft dismissals. Had Broad's contest with Ravi Rampaul not been so blessed - a decision overturned on review, a hook falling safely at fine leg, a drop by Dwayne Bravo at slip - West Indies might have been celebrating a series win.

Shorn not just of the ego of Kevin Pietersen, but the more socially acceptable egos of Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales because of injury (the prognosis on both, incidentally, is more encouraging), England began by looking short of nous. Moeen Ali hooked into the wind, Luke Wright was bowled as he consistently failed to read Narine and when Michael Lumb's innings came to grief courtesy of Nikita Miller's lbw, self-doubt set in.

Root played Narine well, but he was deceived by a Dwayne Bravo delivery that stuck slightly in the wicket. Jos Buttler fell first ball, failing to ride the bounce of a bumper down the leg side, and Tim Bresnan was excellently run out by Dwayne Bravo from wide mid-on. In between that, Ben Stokes tickled Miller onto his pad and looped a catch to Denesh Ramdin, and chose to walk even as the umpire Joel Wilson shook his head. Stokes should not be castigated for his integrity, not for one moment, but one can bet that some place, some time, he will receive an homily about "professionalism".

If they were grateful for Stokes's honesty, West Indies had reason to be aggrieved about a pivotal event in their innings - the dismissal of Dwayne Bravo. From the moment TV umpire Marais Erasmus ruled Jos Buttler's stumping of Bravo was legitimate, West Indies' flow silted up like a Somerset river. The dismissal came the ball before the compulsory Powerplay and, instead of marching into it with two batsmen set - Bravo and Lendl Simmons - they reached it at 133 for 5 and lost five more wickets for 26, Rampaul illustrating their mental collapse when he holed out at long-off against James Tredwell with more than five overs left.

The on-field umpires had turned to Erasmus when Bravo was drawn down the pitch by Tredwell and Buttler lost the ball in the process of completing the stumping. Buttler conceded that he was unsure when the ball had escaped his grasp and TV replays seemed maddeningly inconclusive, but not so for Erasmus who ruled that Bravo was out. Ottis Gibson, West Indies' coach, did not hide his exasperation, rising from his laptop to hold out his hands towards the middle in disbelief.

Stephen Parry, England's debutant left-arm spinner, finished with three wickets and the man-of-the-match award. Parry is very much a one-day specialist, having played only six first-class matches by the age of 28. He acquitted himself well, showing none of the qualms suffered by another Lancashire slow left-armer, Simon Kerrigan, on his Test debut against Australia at The Oval last season.

His contribution in the batting Powerplay was crucial. Simmons had again played judiciously and when he struck Parry over long-on for six, the stakes were ramped up. Parry held his nerve, the next ball was a touch shorter, and Simmons's half-hearted attempt at a repeat fell well short. As West Indies fell away, Parry picked off Darren Sammy at short midwicket and had Sunil Narine stumped, this time a fail-safe affair from Buttler.

The first half of West Indies' innings was a drag. For those who missed the first one-day international in Antigua, the teams staged a repeat. England again managed four wickets by halfway, West Indies' top order played with a bit more energy, but effectively the outcome was the same: a collection of spin bowlers drawing suspicion from West Indies' batsmen as they wheeled away to good effect.

Root's dismissal of Kirk Edwards was the highlight, owing much to a fast catch by Tredwell at slip as the batsman tried to force through the offside. Broad had good moments against the Bravos, causing Darren to drag on from the wicket and finding enough venom in a bouncer to strike Dwayne on helmet and neck and necessitate treatment.

If Broad could therefore claim to have two Bravos, it was Bopara who ultimately got three cheers. Sheepish cheers perhaps, but it was a celebration that England desperately needed. "We made it quite hard work for ourselves," Broad said.

Sri Lanka cruise to final with third win

Two days after achieving their highest profile ODI victory, Afghanistan's diverse attack added to their growing reputation, against Sri Lanka, but in pursuit of 254, the batsmen could not muster the same pugnacity. Scuttled by Sri Lanka's own varied threats, they fell short by 129 runs. The victory, their seventh in a row, assures Sri Lanka a place in the Asia Cup final.

Afghanistan had muzzled Sri Lanka expertly in the early overs, before Mohammad Nabi's carousel of bowling talent exerted further control to induce a middle-order wobble. They had had Sri Lanka at 158 for 5, then 184 for 6 in the 42nd over before a calculating final surge from Angelo Mathews ensured Sri Lanka achieved the competitive 253 for 6 nonetheless. That finish had been set up by Kumar Sangakkara's third 50-plus score of the tournament, but Afghanistan may take pride in the fact Sangakkara was compelled to reticence against them. Runs had flowed freely from his blade against both India and Pakistan.

Mathews had arrived in the 37th over, but did not hit his first boundary until the 47th as he steadied the innings by working the field in the interim. Afghanistan had hidden their inexperience well for 90% of the innings, but could not maintain their standards at the death. Mathews prospered in the poorly-protected midwicket region, as the Afghanistan fielding waned, and the bowling grew more erratic. Mathews finished unbeaten on 45 off 41 as Sri Lanka took 49 runs from the final four overs. The beamer that forced Dawlat Zadran out of the attack in the final over epitomised Afghanistan's indiscipline at the close.

Thisara Perera and Ajantha Mendis had no such trouble and tormented Afghanistan with the ball, taking three wickets apiece to stifle any hopes of an upset. Afghanistan lost their first wicket in the second over, and they could not string together a stand that might have worried Sri Lanka. The last wicket fell in the 39th over. Only Lasith Malinga, who was being saved for the death, finished without a success.

Mohammad Shahzad had backed away to smear Suranga Lakmal over deep extra cover in the second over, but an attempt to repeat the shot two balls later ended with his off stump disturbed. Having never faced Malinga before, the Afghanistan top order could not quite decide what to do with him. Mostly, they played down the wrong line and missed. Asghar Stanikzai enjoyed the pace on the ball early in the innings, but when Thisara found modest swing into the batsman in the 13th over, a gap between pad and prodding bat allowed the ball through to uproot his off stump.

Predictably, Mendis proved no less an enigma to batsmen who had never faced him before. Noor Ali Zadran sought to whack his way out of the Mendis maze, but was caught off the outside edge at point. Then when two more wickets fell cheaply to pace, reducing Afghanistan to 73 for 5, Nabi began to plot a tentative course past the two-finger googlies and carrom balls. But when he fell to Chaturanga de Silva in the 32nd over and the last three wickets simply tumbled.

Afghanistan's prospects were significantly brighter in the afternoon when when Najibullah Zadran and Shapoor Zadran not only restricted Sri Lanka's opening pair better than Pakistan and India had, they also struck earlier. Shapoor got one to jag in off the surface to demolish Lahiru Thirimanne's stumps, while Kusal Perera was denied the width outside off stump he so relishes.

Sri Lanka had traveled at 2.55 in he first nine overs, before a frustrated Kusal sought to manufacture momentum. He prospered briefly, blasting Shapoor for a four and a six on the legside in consecutive balls, before mowing two more fours off Dawlat Zadran next over, but Afghanistan's response was swift and effective. Nabi made a bowling change at either end, and two maidens followed. Two more quiet overs later, he played on to his stumps, attempting a swipe through mid on.

There were glimpses of imperious form from Sangakkara - the checked drive through midwicket chief among them - but as Mahela Jayawardene fell cheaply again, Sangakkara omitted the risks that have lately introduced dynamism to his ODI batting. He reverted to a more familiar and watchful accumulation, while Nabi marshaled his considerable resources. Each new Afghanistan bowler - there were eight in all - was eager to play his part. None released the pressure his teammates had built. If there was an error in Nabi's strategy, it was that he did not bowl himself enough, as even Sangakkara failed to anticipate the bounce and turn he achieved.

Dinesh Chandimal contributed a stuttering 26 to a fourth-wicket partnership worth 74, while Sangakkara crossed fifty. Just as it seemed the pair would accelerate, they both went in quick succession. Chandimal was bowled aiming an expansive stroke over cover, before Sangakkara was run out for 76 thanks to a misunderstanding with Angelo Mathews.