England lost Ravi Bopara in the fifth over of their innings

England captain Andrew Strauss said the loss of key wickets early in England's run chase was the reason for their defeat by West Indies in Guyana.

The home side's 21-run win left the five-match one-day series level at 1-1.

Strauss, who hit 105, said: "I thought we did pretty well with the ball and 265 was definitely a gettable target.

"We lost too many wickets too early so we were always a little bit behind the eight-ball and against medium pace it's not too easy to get the ball away."

Strauss elected to delay his five-over powerplay, which restricts the fielding team to just three fielders on the boundary, until the 45th over, by which time England were eight wickets down.

"We were putting all our eggs in one basket and needed things to go our way - get a couple of shots past the fielders and edge a few to the boundary," said the skipper.

"The wicket had got a little bit slower and lower, so it was hard to get the ball way, but I think the two teams are evenly matched - it just comes down to good individual performances to get your team over the line.

"If we had batted like we had on Friday then we would have had a good chance, but maybe the wicket in Barbados will suit us a little bit better and if we get a couple of good performances there we can go 3-1 up in the series."

606: DEBATE England still play old-style most of the time, they assume a load of runs are to be scored in the back-end of the game Kash79

West Indies skipper Chris Gayle applauded the packed crowd in Guyana for their "tremendous and very noisy" support.

He added: "We wanted to come out and give the crowd something to cheer about especially after Friday's game. I have to commend the batting of Shiv [Shivnarine Chanderpaul] and [Ramnaresh] Sarwan, and the tremendous effort from the all-rounders with the ball.

"We had to be grateful with 264 - it was a good total on that wicket - and we are looking forward to Barbados."

The first of the two matches in Bridgetown takes place on Friday, with the final, possibly decisive match in the series, scheduled for St Lucia on 3 April.

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