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A sparkling unbeaten 90 by Kevin Pietersen led England to a thrilling three-wicket victory over holders West Indies in their final ICC Champions Trophy Group A One-day International (ODI) match here on Saturday.

Pietersen helped England chase down a difficult target under lights, finishing on 276 for seven with nine balls remaining to record their first win of a disappointing tournament.

Earlier, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo scored centuries to guide the West Indies to 272 for four after opting to bat first.

Andrew Strauss (50) and Ian Bell (50) gave England a flying start, putting on 82 runs for the first wicket by the 12th over. Off spinners Gayle and Marlon Samuels shared five wickets to apply the brakes but Pietersen and Sajid Mahmood saw England home after coming together with 41 needed off 32 balls.

The West Indies had already qualified for the semi-finals. Sunday’s clash between Australia and India will determine the second team to advance from the group.

Scoreboard

West Indies won toss

West Indies

C H Gayle run out (Flintoff/Read) 101

S Chanderpaul lbw b Lewis 13

D J Bravo not out 112

R R Sarwan c Collingwood b Mahmood 29

*B C Lara b Mahmood 3

M N Samuels not out 3

Extras (lb1, w9, nb1) 11

Total (4 wkts, 50 overs) 272

Did not bat: R S Morton, †C S Baugh, C D Collymore, J E Taylor, F H Edwards

Fall: 1-35, 2-209, 3-259, 4-268

Bowling: Anderson 10-0-72-0 (1w); Lewis 10-1-35-1 (1w); Flintoff 5-0-27-0 (1w); Mahmood 7-0-44-2 (1nb, 4w); Yardy 5-1-32-0; Dalrymple 10-0-42-0 (1w); Collingwood 3-0-19-0

England

A J Strauss b Gayle 50

I R Bell run out (Lara) 50

*A Flintoff c Taylor b Gayle 25

P D Collingwood c Bravo b Gayle 0

K P Pietersen not out 90

M H Yardy c Bravo b Samuels 10

J W M Dalrymple b Samuels 8

†C M W Read c Gayle b Bravo 4

S I Mahmood not out 14

Extras (lb11, w10, nb4) 25

Total (7 wkts, 48.2 overs) 276

Did not bat: J Lewis, J M Anderson

Fall: 1-82, 2-126, 3-127, 4-162, 5-180, 6-214, 7-232

Bowling: Edwards 7-0-56-0 (3nb, 2w); Taylor 8.3-0-64-0 (3w); Collymore 10-1-43-0 (1nb); Gayle 10-1-31-3; Samuels 10-0-45-2; Bravo 3-0-26-1 (1w)

Result: England won by 3 wickets

Points: England 2, West Indies 0

Man of the Match: Chris Gayle

Umpires: D J Harper (Australia) and S J A Taufel (Australia). TV umpire: Aleem Dar (Pakistan). Match referee: M J Procter (South Africa)

ICC Champions Trophy Points Table

Group A P W L Pts NRR

West Indies 3 2 1 4 +0.009

India 2 1 1 2 +0.888

Australia 2 1 1 2 +0.507

England 3 1 2 2 -1.044

Group B

South Africa 3 2 1 4 +0.767

New Zealand 3 2 1 4 +0.572

Sri Lanka 3 1 2 2 -0.195

Pakistan 3 1 2 2 -1.107
Source:The News

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