England vs West Indies 2nd Twenty20 Match - - - - - - - - - - At The Oval - - - - - - - - - - Friday 29 June 2007 (5.30pm start)

My dad's workmate - a member of Surrey CCC - was kind enough to give us a couple of tickets to see England take on the West Indies at The Oval in the second of two Twenty20 games. It was the first time I had been to The Oval since seeing the Surrey Lions (now the Surrey Brown Caps) lose to the Sussex Sharks in another Twenty20 cup game in 2005. The last time my dad visited The Oval, Pakistan made about 240-1 in the day as they put the England bowlers to the sword in the forfeited test match last summer. So we were both hoping for a change of luck this time. Fortunately, the weather stayed good for the duration of the game and we got the full 3 hours play in. And it was a fantastic game, which England triumphed by 5 wickets, with just three balls remaining. Hero Owais Shah was man-of-the-match with a superb winning knock of 55 not out which guided England home after they were in a spot of bother. Enjoy some of the pictures below.

One of the impressive Oval Pavillion and the members area. We were sitting in Block 17 - our tickets for the game were £43.

West Indies won the toss and batted first in new England captain Paul Collingwood's second game as ODI captain. As you can see from the scoreboard, he was in the middle of one of his overs and was actually one of England's best bowlers, taking a couple of wickets. Jimmy Anderson (on the right) was fielding very close to us - and he did a fine job in the field, too.

England celebrate the wicket of West Indies captain Chris Gayle for an excellent 61, leaving the tourists on 108 for 3 in the 12th over. Gayle hit the first ball of the match for 4 off Ryan Sidebottom, and had actually scored every one of the first 31 runs in the game, with his partner Lendl Simmons yet to get off the mark at the other end. It was a key wicket for England, as the West Indies' innings lost momentum after the hard-hitting Gayle departed.

The West Indies innings closes on 169 for 7, leaving England a reasonable target of 170 for victory. Ryan Sidebottom and Paul Collingwood shared a couple of wickets each, whilst there was one each for Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson and a run out near the end, too. Alistair Cook and Matthew Prior came out to open for England as they began chasing down the target.

England begin well, knocking off 20 or so off the first two overs, but Alistair Cook - having hit two wonderful fours - is the first man to go in the third over when he is bowled middle stump for just nine, leaving England on 25 for 1. Darren Powell is the man to take the first wicket for the West Indies, and in his previous two deliveries, Cook had never looked settled against him.

Matt Prior soon follows Cook back to the pavillion when he steps away from his stumps and takes a swipe at a straight Ravi Rampaul delivery but misses, losing his leg stump. Kevin Pietersen enters the crease to a great reception around the Oval, joining Warwickshire's Jonathan Trott in the middle. England in some early bother at 38 for 2.

England slip into further trouble when Trott skies a pull shot and is easily caught for two. Captain Collingwood joins the action with his England team in difficulty at 43 for 3.

With England on 85 for 4, and seemingly heading for defeat, the Oval crowd - having consumed a fair amount of alcohol by this stage - decide on building enormous beer towers. The stewards try their best to stop the towers from getting too big, but their efforts are in vain, as soon the beer towers are springing up from all parts of the ground! But the crowd are soon focusing all their attention on the exciting climax to the game, as after Collingwood is next to go stumped for 27, Owais Shah and Dimitri Mascarenhas put together an unbeaten stand of 66 to guide England to a thrilling five-wicket victory with just three balls remaining. Shah (55 not out) makes the second fifty of the game with Mascarenhas (18 not out) providing able support at the other end. The winning runs come courtesy of five wides conceded by captain Chris Gayle funnily enough, but the win is Paul Collingwood's first one as captain in the one-day game. A great day out, and the right result too! Barmy Army!