Flintoff Hat-trick Helps England Seals The Series

Andrew Flintoff starred with the ball to revive England's spirits.

Gros Islet (St Lucia): Andrew Flintoff returned the stunning figures of 5 for 19 in five overs, and capped his efforts with the first hat-trick of his international career, as England ended a dismal winter on an improbable high with their first-ever ODI series win in the Caribbean.

It was a well-deserved win on Friday too as England bowled with accuracy and discipline after an earlier batting collapse meant they managed only 172 for five from their allotted 29 overs.

Put in to bat, England started well as they overcame the early loss of Andrew Strauss to reach 88/2 after 15 overs on a difficult pitch. However, an all-too-familiar middle-order collapse took the steam out of the innings.

Kevin Pietersen was looking good on 48 when recalled spinner Sulieman Benn had him controversially caught by Darren Sammy, with TV pictures suggesting he grounded the ball.

Ravi Bopara was also in lively form but he too missed out on a half-century when he fell for 44. When Owais Shah and Flintoff followed soon after, England had slumped to 112/5.

Paul Collingwood (35 not out) and Matt Prior (25 not out) staged a spirited recovery with an unbeaten partnership of 60, including 30 off the last three overs.

West Indies' chase got off to the worst possible start when captain Chris Gayle was caught in the slips off Jimmy Anderson off the third ball of the innings.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (13) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (23), who have troubled England throughout the tour, both settled in but failed to build on their starts as England took wickets at regular intervals.

Flintoff, whose tour has been bedevilled by injury, then took centre stage as he bowled Denesh Ramdin, had Ravi Rampaul lbw and then bowled Benn.

The match ended in something of a shambles as Sammy (7) was run out going for a second run to leave them all out for 146 after 28 overs.

West Indies beat England 1-0 in the Test series.

Brief Score: England 172/5 (Pietersen 48) beat West Indies 146 (Flintoff 5-19) by 26 runs