The destructive power of West Indies' batting line-up sent hosts England crashing out of the NatWest Triangular Series at Lord's yesterday.

Despite compiling 285 for seven - the highest score of the tournament at that point - England slumped to a seven-wicket defeat as West Indies successfully chased the fourth highest target ever in a one-day international in this country.

Man-of-the-match Chris Gayle was the thorn in England's side with a brilliant 132 to seal the triumph with five balls to spare.

The Windies' limited bowling resources forced the tourists to select just two specialist bowlers for a match England had to win with a bonus point to guarantee their involvement in Saturday's final at Lord's against New Zealand.

England appeared to have exploited the situation to the maximum with Andrew Flintoff maintaining his blistering form to become the first English batsman since Alec Stewart four years ago to score successive centuries.

The Lancashire all-rounder, who hit 123 from 104 balls, forged a record stand with Andrew Strauss, who claimed his maiden century at this level in only his ninth innings.

The pair put on 226 from 188 balls to record England's highest ever one-day partnership and overhaul the previous best of 213 by Graeme Hick and Neil Fairbrother against West Indies at Lord's 13 years ago.

Their efforts helped England progress from a healthy but far from intimidating 164 for three after 40 overs.

The final ten overs yielded 121 runs, and the last six 85, to leave England needing to restrict West Indies to 228 if they were to claim the six points on offer with a bonus point for a place in the final.

That prospect looked possible with opener Devon Smith falling in the seventh over of their reply when he edged Darren Gough.

But that was England's last success for a further 31 overs with Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan conducting a masterclass in how to judge the pace of innings.

Having been given an early reprieve on 19, Strauss failing to take a diving catch at extra cover, Gayle demonstrated the power of his strokeplay while Sarwan scored at more than a run-a-ball.

Their constant pressurising of the England fielders inevitably caused errors.

Robert Key was guilty of walking in from the boundary and allowing Gayle to straight drive Ashley Giles for six when it could have been a comfortable catch.

Sarwan also benefited after slipping when attempting a quick single with Strauss running in from extra cover and taking a wild shy at the stumps - and missing when he had the time to throw under-arm to Paul Collingwood at the non-striker's end.

Lancashire seamer James Anderson also missed a tough return catch after Sarwan had reached 74, but made amends by finally breaking the 187-run partnership off 188 balls in his next over when the vice-captain edged behind attempting a big drive over the top.

Needing 73 off the final ten overs, Anderson made the finale to the game interesting by removing Lara in similar circumstances.

But West Indies' vast depth in their batting line-up paid off with Ricardo Powell arriving at the crease to contribute a quickfire 33 to an unbroken 68-run partnership with Gayle, who paced his innings to perfection and finished unbeaten on 132 off 165 deliveries - including a six and 12 fours.

England's innings had followed a familiar pattern with the loss of three early wickets, including captain Michael Vaughan for eight - taking his disappointing tally from five innings in the series to 47 runs.

Vaughan and Trescothick fell to an impressive new ball burst from paceman Tino Best while Key, given the platform to establish himself with his first significant innings at this level, fell to all-rounder Dwayne Smith.

England, just like they did during Sunday's defeat at Bristol, were once again relying on the composure of Flintoff and Strauss to guide them to a respectable total -- and they delivered by exceeding all expectations of a possible total.

They began slowly, taking 70 balls in reaching their first half-century. But the near run-out of Strauss backing up on 39 by Dwayne Bravo prompted the late onslaught, beginning with Flintoff launching the first of seven sixes at the end of the same over.

Flintoff dominated the stand but the Middlesex batsman could not prevent himself being swept along during the adrenaline-fuelled finale, progressing from 50 to his maiden century in only 31 balls.

Both fell in the space of three balls as England lost four wickets in the final over.

But the belief was that they had done enough to secure victory - only for West Indies to shatter their dreams and ensure the hosts had a watching brief for Saturday's final