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Share we go again

BY THE time it was finished, the result seemed a non-issue.

But, at the end of yet another extraordinary match, an extraordinary series result (a tie) was produced in a series that was designed to produce a winner.

All else in a match the West Indies won comfortably by eight wickets was overshadowed by the 45 frenetic minutes in which Barbadians stood in solidarity with Sherwin Campbell.

The victory, achieved with as many as three overs to spare, levelled the series 3-3, the spoils shared because of the premature crowd invasion of the pitch in the Guyana match that prompted match referee Raman Subba Row to declare the contest a tie.

Campbell, impressively leading the West Indies' run-chase after another enterprising start with Ridley Jacobs, won the support of the home fans when he was given run out in spite of the fact that he appeared to have been obstructed by Brendon Julian.

Julian, a tall left-arm fast bowler, was running neither towards the ball nor the stumps when he collided with the little Barbadian opener who had made 52 out of the West Indies' 138 for one in 29 overs.

As Campbell trudged off Kensington Oval, several angry fans hurled bottles onto the field.

By the time the drama had subsided and Campbell was reinstated, enough time had elapsed that the original target of 253 from the full allotment of 50 overs was revised to 196 off 40 overs.

The noise around the ground was deafening when Campbell and Shivnarine Chanderpaul re-emerged from the Garfield Sobers Pavilion to go after the remaining 58 runs the West Indies needed from 11 overs.

Campbell immediately whipped the first ball he faced from Julian to the mid-wicket fence, but then edged a very wide ball from left-arm spinner Michael Bevan into the gloves of the 'keeper.

His 62 off 102 balls included seven fours and was the latest of his impressive seven innings throughout the series in which his consistency earned him 312 runs (ave. 44.57) and the Man-of-the-Series award of a Rover 200 and BDS$2 000.

Captain Jimmy Adams returned to replace Campbell, with plenty of plaster above his left eye, the result of a blow that forced him to retire hurt when he attempted to sweep Bevan.

He joined Chanderpaul with 43 runs needed from eight overs and the two left-handers brought the match to a quick end with a series of leg-side boundaries.

Campbell and Jacobs had once more provided the West Indies with yet another ideal start with their third successive significant opening partnership.

In adding 99 in 21.1 overs, they nullified Mark Waugh's off-spin that was chosen to share the new ball and disdainfully attacked the medium-pace of Tom Moody and Shane Lee.

The no-nonsense Jacobs hoisted Waugh over mid-wicket for the first of his three sixes and the other two were despatched in the same direction off Lee. The left-hander arrived at his second half-century in succession with a cover-driven boundary off Shane Warne that bisected the two men on the ropes.

Warne, barely edged out for the Man-Of-The-Series award, was again a threat in eight overs that cost him 28, but it was Steve Waugh who removed Jacobs with a help of a neat catch at extra-cover by Mark Waugh.

Australia batted first, and when they were reduced to 119 for six at the half-way stage of their 50 overs, it hardly seemed possible that they would reach 252 for nine at the end.

Mervyn Dillon rocked them with the early dismissals of Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting in his first two overs and Darren Lehmann nibbled a catch behind off Curtly Ambrose.

The Waugh twins tried to repair the damage, but both went to Reon King, whose figures were not helped by several instances of untidy fielding.

King forced Mark Waugh into chopping one into his stumps, while the attacking Steve Waugh edged a catch to the 'keeper after a quick-fire 30 from 29 balls that included a towering six over mid-wicket off Nehemiah Perry's off-spin.

Lee walked out to join Bevan, who appeared to be the main obstacle between West Indies and a minimal total.

As it turned out, ``The Finisher'' was plucked by a direct throw from substitute Adrian Griffith when he was 34 and well set.

It required the efforts of two men who had made little impression with the bat during the series to carry the innings.

Lee and Tom Moody, two powerful hitters on their day, staged a late recovery, and when Lee was bowled by King in the 42nd over, Warne and Julian also hit out effectively to ensure that 81 runs were belted from the last 10 overs.

Moody, a major disappointment with the bat this series, made 50 off 81 balls with two fours and six, while Lee, who bats as high as No. 4 for New South Wales, made 47 off 68 balls.

They were not enough.