St. Lucia, May 02: A thrilling rally from Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Smith saw West Indies fight back to beat England by five wickets in the fifth One-Day International. Sarwan (73 not out) and Smith, with a 28-ball 44, added 80 in nine overs to turn the match for the home side.

England's 281-8, the highest ever total at St Lucia's two-year-old stadium, was topped with 12 balls to spare.

Marcus Trescothick hit 130 and Andrew Flintoff 59 in a 110-run fourth-wicket partnership for the tourists.
After three washed-out matches, the series was left tied at 1-1 with two games remaining, the next at the same venue on Sunday.

England appeared to have more than enough runs to play with after running wild with the bat and then regaining control with the ball after a difficult start on a good pitch with a fast outfield.

When home captain Brian Lara edged Steve Harmison behind for 37, spirits were flagging with 91 runs needed off the last 12 overs.
But Sarwan and Smith made the maths a formality with an astonishing onslaught.

Ian Blackwell, James Anderson and Harmison each conceded two sixes in an over, Smith crashing the last four over the off-side field.

Flintoff bowled him through the gate but by that time the equation was 11 from 20.

Dwayne Bravo lofted Darren Gough over the covers for six to finish the job.

Lara's decision to bowl first looked had looked ill-judged as Trescothick and captain Michael Vaughan shared a brisk opening stand of 43.
Bureau Report