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The Barbados Nation Bryan's Bang On
Haydn Gill in Kingstown - 11 April 1999

Amidst scenes of wild jubilation, Hendy Bryan announced his entry into international cricket with a sensational spell of swing bowling that revived the West Indies and carried them to a comfortable victory in the first Cable & Wireless One-Day International against Australia yesterday.

There was a virtual hush around the Arnos Vale Playing Field when Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting were confidently launching Australia to a seemingly modest target of 210, before the 29-year-old Barbadian dramatically altered the course of the match in 10 decisive overs.

Adhering to an impeccable three-quarter length and a nagging off-stump line, Bryan was typically deceptive with his pace. His reward was the scalps of three of limited-overs cricket's most dangerous batsmen Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh and the phenomenal Michael Bevan - and Shane Lee.

With each victim, the noise around the packed ground became more deafening, especially in his final over when Bryan removed the left-handed Bevan and embarrassed Lee.

By then, Australia had deteriorated from 57 for one to 109 for seven and it became clear that the West Indies would win handily. They did so by 44 runs, against a team containing seven One-Day specialists flown in after the preceding Test series.

It was a fairy-tale debut for Bryan, his final figures reading 10-1-24-4, and his scalps including the man who holds the highest average in the shortened game and Australia's two most durable and highest-scorers.

``This is what I had wished for and it came true,'' a modest Bryan said after he was named Man-Of-The-Match.

``I did what I've been doing all season, trying to bowl good line and length and trying to put the ball in the right place.''

As he started his third over, Australia were keeping up with an asking rate of 4.46 runs an over and the West Indies had gained the solitary wicket of left-handed opener Adam Gilchrist.

With a keen sense of timing, the deejay among the ``Guineas Posse'' turned to his most appropriate selection, Bob Marley's One Love, with its catchy line, ``Everything's gonna be alright''.

As the music subsided, the bustling Bryan delivered a ball which cut back on pitching and pierced the defensive prod of Mark Waugh, a player with more than 6 000 One-Day runs.

If the ground went abuzz then, there was pandemonium when Steve Waugh dragged one into his stumps, his innings of 10 off 32 balls ending at a crucial stage.

By then Mervyn Dillon was also maintaining the pressure by inducing Ponting into a miscued pull that was caught at mid-wicket by Stuart Williams in spite of an unnecessary collision with Courtney Walsh.

West Indies held a slight advantage, but the match was far from over. The abilities of Bevan, Lee and Darren Lehmann are more than adequate, as was emphasised in the 1998-99 World Series Cup in which Australia were champions.

Before anyone could consume even a snow-cone, all three were were gone; Lehmann to Lara's brilliant pick-up and throw from mid-wicket that shattered the stumps at the bowler's end and the other two to the irrepressible Bryan.

Bevan, a One-Day master with a batting average of more than 60, edged an attempted drive which was gleefully accepted by wicket-keeper Jimmy Adams, while Lee chose to offer no stroke and was bowled, to the amusement of the more than 10 000 spectators.

The match was as good as over, and even though Brendon Julian and Shane Warne added 35 for the ninth wicket, no one could stop the West Indies from winning their first limited-overs international in five matches and their eighth in nine matches on the ground.

Even before confirmation could come from the TV replay umpire after the third direct hit for a run-out, scores of spectators had already encroached on the playing area. Once the right light came on, hundreds joined them. West Indies' 209 all out in 48.1 overs was built around a solid third-wicket partnership between Sherwin Campbell and Jimmy Adams and substantially helped by a healthy contribution of 20 wides. The extras slowed Australia's over-rate and they were docked three overs from their full allotment.

Campbell and Adams, two men whose styles are not ideally suited to the shorter game, justified their inclusions by adding 76 with orthodox, intelligent methods when there was still some early moisture in the pitch. For 16 overs, they scampered cheeky singles between the wickets, pushed the ball down the ground and even played aggressive strokes with authority, like Adams' successive drives off Lee and Campbell's favourite square-drives that brought him his two fours.

Campbell's 62 off 105 balls was only his fourth half-century at this level and his first in more than three years. Brought together after Shivnarine Chanderpaul's attempted hook ended down the throat of long-leg and captain Brian Lara's drive on the up was latched on to by the diving Bevan at mid-off, Campbell and Adams were just about beginning to provide the base for an assault over the last 20 overs. It never came, and a promising 129 for two after 30 overs was converted into 152 for seven after the type of collapse that has become commonplace these days. This one was triggered by a combination of carelessness and tight, mean bowling, especially by Shane Warne.

Campbell and Adams frequently chanced their hands against fielders renowned for running out batsmen with deadly throws. The luck went with the batsmen on at least three occasions when they were short of the ground, but it finally ran out when both hesitated in mid-pitch and Mark Waugh's direct hit from mid-wicket claimed Adams for 30. Stuart Williams and Keith Arthurton, considered two of the West Indies' premier One-Day specialists, did nothing to enhance either their reputations or the team's position. Williams, in at No. 5, never looked comfortable and was bowled by Paul Reiffel, his ninth ball of the over. Searching for a drive, Williams left a big gap between bat and pad, played slightly across and had his middle stump struck.

The dismissal of Campbell, bowled trying to dab Lee down to third-man, left more responsibility on Arthurton, who responded by charging at Warne and becoming an easy stumping victim. It was left to Phil Simmons, Nehemiah Perry and Dillon to ensure that valuable runs were added in the last 10 overs. As it turned out, they were more than enough.


Source: The Barbados Nation
Editorial comments can be sent to The Barbados Nation at nationnews@sunbeach.net