England inspired by the Shah show

Shah, so impressive on Test debut in India last year but in danger of not fulfilling his natural talent, returned to the side for the limited-overs matches and squared this two-match mini-series with an almost old-fashioned run chase, eschewing the Twenty20 preference for hitting sixes.

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On a night when 23,500 fans packed into the Brit Oval and thousands more watched nine domestic Twenty20 matches, making this possibly the bestsupported day in English cricket history, Shah rescued England from what would have been the worst possible start to Paul Collingwood's captaincy.

Shah, in his 26th match of Twenty20 cricket, showed the worth of experience in the abbreviated format of the game by pacing his chase perfectly after England had slipped to 104 for five chasing West Indies' 169 for seven.

With Dimitri Mascarenhas, he swung the match England's way in an unbroken stand of 69, 59 of which came from the last four-anda- half overs.

It was another entertaining advert for the short form that has gripped English cricket. And at the centre of it was the Middlesex maverick who has blown hot and cold in his England career of two contrasting Tests and 18 one-day internationals spaced over five years.

When Shah failed again in the first of these two NatWest matches, after his nervous Test display at Lord's in May, the pressure was beginning to build on those supposedly assured shoulders which conceal a complex, independent personality.

Shah, who reacted badly to being dropped by England after his 88 on Test debut in Mumbai and who turned down the chance of leading England A's tour to Bangladesh last winter, needed this performance and he grabbed it in an authoritative manner.

West Indies had put themselves in pole position with another much improved display following the ignominy of their Test series shame.

Chris Gayle, such a surprisingly impressive figure as captain, and the entertaining Marlon Samuels lifted their side to something like par on another fast and bouncy pitch, then the West Indies bowlers, with Daren Powell regularly hitting the 90mph mark, seemed to have put the game beyond England's reach.

Alastair Cook, not a natural Twenty20 opener at this stage of his career, Matt Prior, Jonathan Trott and, crucially, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, all fell without seizing the initiative.

When Mascarenhas, himself with plenty to prove, joined Shah it looked as though England might have to rethink their policy of picking the same team for 20-over and 50-over matches.

Shah was having none of it, playing initially in orthodox fashion before taking the game away from West Indies in the 16th over.

It was bowled by Samuels, expensive in the first match but still the preferred spin option of Gayle ahead of himself, and Shah used it to show his full wristy repertoire.

He took 16 runs with a series of sweeps and dabs, most notably a one-handed sweep for four off a low full toss.

From then on England just had to play sensible cricket, which they did to bring victory with three balls to spare, Shah finishing on 55 from 35 balls with seven fours and, tellingly, no sixes.

Earlier, England's bowlers showed they had learned their lesson from Thursday and produced a much more intelligent and disciplined effort.

West Indies won another important toss but missed the injured Devon Smith and Shiv Chanderpaul and did not look likely to top 200, as they had in winning the first match.

Only when Samuels was hitting three mighty sixes was England's resolve tested but an attack that was again surprisingly lacking Monty Panesar kept the ball mainly in the right places, Ryan Sidebottom and Jimmy Anderson being particularly impressive.

It was good, too, to see such an impressive display in the field from Anderson, who saved at least 10 runs on his own with some energetic and athletic stops after his fumbles on Thursday.

The hugely promising Stuart Broad also looked assured, holding on to a steepling catch to nip Gayle's bludgeoning in the bud.

It was not all good news for England ahead of tomorrow's first of three NatWest one-day internationals at Lord's.

Mascarenhas looked like the bits-and-pieces bowler his detractors have always feared he was while, when it was England's turn to bat, Trott again looked nervous before tamely topedging a pull off a Ravi Rampaul long-hop into the hands of Denesh Ramdin.

Trott needs a score in the 50-over matches to justify his selection now but at least one talented aspiring England batsman in Shah can rest more easily after making his mark just when his new captain needed him most.