Decades Tournament - 1990s England v 1990s Rest of the World

 

England pulled off a fantastic 178 run victory against the Rest of the World to kick off games in Group H.

World XI captain Brian Lara won the toss and elected to field on a poor patchy wicket that had suffered water leakage in the days leading up to the game.  Showers and bad light wiped out most of the first session and overcast conditions added to the mix, creating perfect bowling conditions that were fully exploited by Lara's bowlers.

England slumped to 76-4 and then recovered slightly as Robin Smith and Dominic Cork added 40 for the 5th wicket.  When Smith fell for 34, England proceeded to collapse again and were all out for 138.  

There was still an hours play remaining of the First day and England made inroads as the World XI finished on 38-2.  The bowling conditions were still good on Day 2 and England had a superb morning session.  The Rest of the World collapsed to 78-9, with Dominic Cork taking 5 for 35.  A 38 run stand between Muralitharan and Younis brought some respectability, but amazingly the World XI were all out for 116, giving England a first innings lead of 22.

Conditions had improved as overcast conditions lifted, but Rain and poor light continued to affect Englands innings.  They batted much better in their 2nd innings however, with fifties from Hussain and Stewart, but it was Robin Smith who changed the game.  He batted beautifully, hitting 154 not out in just over 5 hours and England declared on 381-7 in the 2nd session of day 4.

The Rest of the World needed 404 to win and got nowhere near it.  Their top order collapsed once again  as they fell to 135-5.  Aravinda de Silva and Andy Flower added 71 and with more poor weather, the game seemed to be heading for a draw when Hussain brought his quicks back on for a late charge.  His plan worked as both Malcolm and Gough ripped through the lower order.  The World XI lost 5 wickets for 20 runs in 45 minutes and were all out for 225.

England won by 178 runs with Gough taking 4 for 54 and Malcolm 3 for 40.  Cork bowled well once again, taking 2 for 35.

Man of the match went to Smith however, for his fantastic hundred in the 2nd innings, which set up Englands brilliant win.

England now travel to Headingley to take on the South Africans, while the Rest of the World travel to Sabina Park in the Caribbean to face Australia.

England 1990s: MA Atherton; AJ Stewart; N Hussain [c]; RA Smith; GP Thorpe; DG Cork; RC Russell [w]; AR Caddick; D Gough; DE Malcolm; PCR Tufnell

Rest of the World 1990s: ST Jayasuriya; Saeed Anwar; BC Lara [c]; SR Tendulkar; PA de Silva; A Flower [w]; CL Cairns; Wasim Akram; Saqlain Mushtaq; M Muralitharan; Waqar Younis

England 1990s 1st Innings 138-10 (61.4 Ov)

AJ Stewart 39, RA Smith 34, N Hussain 31, Wasim Akram 2-16, CL Cairns 2-23, Saqlain Mushtaq 2-31

Rest of the World 1990s 1st Innings 116-10 (48.1 Ov)

Waqar Younis 28*, ST Jayasuriya 25, DG Cork 5-35, AR Caddick 3-31

England 1990s 2nd Innings 381-7 (112 Ov)

RA Smith 154*, N Hussain 56, AJ Stewart 51, Saqlain Mushtaq 2-52, Waqar Younis 2-73, M Muralitharan 2-96

Rest of the World 1990s 2nd Innings 225-10 (84 Ov)

Saeed Anwar 60, A Flower 46, PA de Silva 43, D Gough 4-54, DE Malcolm 3-40, DG Cork 2-35

England 1990s win by 178 runs

Man of the Match: RA Smith