Cricket/ Triangular series: Captain Brian Lara insisted yesterday the West Indies' Triangular Series disappointment against New Zealand will not hinder their preparation for the forthcoming Tests with England.

The West Indians, like England before them, were outclassed by the departing New Zealand team in yesterday's Lord's final, succumbing by a 107-run margin in a rain-affected contest.

Lara, however, believes there are plus points for his young team ahead of the four-match series, where the tourists seek to avenge a 3-0 Caribbean drubbing by Michael Vaughan's side this year.

"We have got to separate this from the rest of the tour," Lara insisted, following the failed chase of 267. "Now the one-day series is over and there are a lot of positives we can take into the next couple of months, like the fact we were in the final and England, the host country, were not.

"Also we have had a few weeks of playing cricket in English conditions, whereas normally you arrive two weeks ahead of the first Test match.

"The guys have become accustomed to the weather and we are in a better position for an upcoming Test series than if we had just arrived."

Despite the often appalling conditions during the tournament, New Zealand coped best out of the three sides to extend their best-ever run to nine straight wins.

That pressure was exerted when Lara was at the crease and West Indies were in the ascendancy, as man of the match Daniel Vettori and veteran Chris Harris dried up the runs.

While Daniel Vettori finished with career-best ODI figures of five for 30, Harris's solitary dismissal meant as much, ending an eight-month wait to complete a landmark 4,000 runs and 200 wickets one which only Sanath Jayasuriya had achieved.