Date-stamped : 17 Feb94 - 06:29 England v West Indies, ODI1, Barbados, 16 Feb 94 England beat the West Indies with surprising ease in the first one day international in Bridgetown. Skipper Mike Atherton in- spired the tourists to an outstanding win scoring 86 of the 202 total. The West Indies were in good form in the field with some stunning catches but England's bowlers put their batsmen under pressure. Chris Lewis took 3-18 and Devon Malcolm 3-41 as the Windies were all out for 141. That gave England a winning margin of 61 runs. England captain Mike Atherton was a happy but cau- tious man after his side completed a comfortable 61 run win over the West Indies. Atherton led by example scoring 86 of England's total of 202 but he paid tribute to his bowlers. "Our bowlers were superb and we battled brilliantly in the field," said the England skipper. He added: "You can't read to much into the Test match from this result. We may well suffer a West Indian backlash. We played well but we can't afford to relax." Contributed by goo-chie (jdw5@*.ukc.ac.uk) ====> MORE Paceman Chris Lewis produced a burst of three for 11, including two wickets in two balls, to thrust England to a 61-run victory over West Indies in the first one-day international. The shaven-headed Lewis fired out captain Richie Richardson and Phil Simmons with consecutive deliveries and also dispatched Keith Arthurton as West Indies crumbled to 141 all out in 40.4 overs at Kensington Oval. England scored 202 for five in their 50 overs after winning the toss, with Mike Atherton playing a captain's innings of 86 and sharing a fourth wicket stand of 93 in 20 overs with Graeme Hick, who hit a vigorous 47. The pair helped to lift the tempo after the touring team struggled against tight bowling and almost flaw- less fielding in the first half of their innings. They scored 70 off the opening 24 overs but added 132 from the last 26 overs. Lewis's triple strike in 15 balls tore the heart out of the in- nings after Devon Malcolm made the initial breakthrough by dismissing the in-form Brian Lara (9) and fellow paceman Alan Ig- glesden followed up by removing Desmond Haynes (17). Igglesden, passed fit only shortly before the match started after injuring his elbow while batting in the nets on Tuesday, contributed a significant eight-over spell in which he took two for 12. But it was Lewis who stole centre stage with a telling burst that gave England a confidence-boosting start to their programme of five one-day internationals and five tests. Lewis's first dismissal was aided by a wonderful reflex catch by Matthew May- nard, who dived at point to cling onto a forcing stroke by Richardson (12). With his next delivery Lewis bowled Simmons, the Trinidadian getting an under-edge onto his stumps. When Arthurton (6) pushed forward to a ball from Lewis outside off stump and edged it into his wicket, West Indies had subsided from 48 for two to 55 for five. Pace bowler Steve Watkin tightened England's grip by having Roger Harper lbw for 11, making the score 82 for six, but the touring team's progress was held up by wicketkeeper-batsman Jimmy Adams and paceman Anderson Cummins. The pair put on 39 for the seventh wicket with some vigorous blows but once Adams had fallen for 29 to a catch on the square leg boundary by Graham Thorpe -- he held three altogether -- the innings was swiftly wrapped up. England, having first use of a pitch that tended to get a shade slower and lower as the match progressed, got through a charac- teristically demanding spell by Curtly Ambrose but were undone by Winston Benjamin. The fast-medium Benjamin dispatched opener Alec Stewart (11) and his Surrey team mate Thorpe (4), and West Indies retained the initiative as off spinner Harper held a low return catch to remove Robin Smith (12). However, Atherton and Hick scored freely on both sides of the wicket against Harper in a stand that was broken when Hick pulled a Cummins delivery and was brilliantly caught at short mid-wicket by Simmons, leaping to his right and holding the ball one-handed. Cummins also dismissed Atherton, who faced 147 balls and struck six fours, when he tried to clear the mid-on boundary and lofted a simple catch to Richardson. Maynard (22 not out) and Lewis pushed the total just beyond 200 with aggressive batting and quick running between the wickets. Contributed by chico (ckhan@bbn.com)