Prior stars with the bat for England

The Sussex wicketkeeper-batsman, filling in at number three in the absence of the injured Kevin Pietersen, hit a brilliant 87 off 86 balls in the final match of the one-day series against West Indies.

Prior's innings, which included five fours, eclipsed his previous best of 52 against the same opponents on the same ground two years ago and helped England reach a commanding 328 for seven after being put in to bat.

It was England's highest one-day score since their 340 for six against New Zealand in Napier last year and it also eclipsed their highest against West Indies, beating the 306 for five they scored at the Oval in a 55-over match in 1995.

The foundation for England's impressive score was an 81-run opening stand dominated by Ravi Bopara's 49 off 54 balls in his 10th innings since being converted to an opener in the one-day side.

Bopara hit seven fours in his innings, including a spell of four fours in nine balls, but fell short of his half-century when he pushed forward defensively to Dwayne Bravo and played onto his stumps.

Captain Andrew Strauss accelerated briefly following Bopara's departure and reached his half-century off 66 balls. But his hopes of repeating his century in Guyana six matches ago were ended when he fell to the next ball he faced, pushing forward defensively to left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and being stumped by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.

His demise united Prior with Owais Shah in a productive 149-run stand off only 126 balls, which propelled England to a far more daunting total than West Indies would have predicted during the early stages on a slow pitch.

Shah eventually fell for a valuable 75 off 65 balls when he was caught in the deep attempting to launch Jerome Taylor for his third six. His dismissal prompted a mini-collapse, with England losing four wickets in a 30-ball spell as they attempted to accelerate during the end of the innings.

Dimitri Mascarenhas, promoted up the order to try to build on England's considerable momentum, lasted only one ball before giving Kieron Pollard a simple return catch, and Prior's impressive innings was ended in the next over when he was bowled by Taylor. All-rounder Paul Collingwood (23) steered England past 300 on his 33rd birthday, but was bowled to give Taylor his third wicket, while Tim Bresnan was dismissed for nine.