Castries, St Lucia, May 03: West Indies captain Brian Lara celebrated his 35th birthday with a superb fifty to lead his side to a four-wicket win over England in the sixth one-day international. England captain Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss made 67 apiece as the touring side scored 280 for eight yesterday but the hosts reached their target with 17 balls to spare.

West Indies lead in the weather-disrupted series 2-1 with the final match scheduled for Barbados on Wednesday.

''Shivnarine Chanderpaul played a tremendous innings and Dwayne Bravo has only played two or three games but has got a lot of maturity,'' Lara said. ''We have a very exciting young team here but we need to be more consistent.''

Just as in the fifth game on Saturday when West Indies successfully chased 282 for victory, England were left to rue missing out on a total in excess of 300 after slipping from 191 for three after 33 overs.

The tourists made a good start after being put into bat with Marcus Trescothick, who made 130 on Saturday, and Vaughan looking in good form. But when Trescothick fell for 29 with the score on 57, England lost their impetus, allowing West Indies to slow the run-rate.

Vaughan and Strauss played sensibly as they added 84 for the second wicket.

Vaughan, still without a one-day international hundred, passed 50 for the seventh time but he was run out for 67 by a direct hit from Ricardo Powell.

Bureau Report