CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

Day 1: Windies enter 'Waugh Zone'

The West Indies shone briefly yesterday, and then the Australians turned Kensington Oval into a ``Waugh Zone''.

The home side started the first day of the third Test on a high, taking three wickets for 36 in the first hour, but Australian skipper Steve Waugh hit 141 not out as his team rallied to 322 for four.

Waugh batted after he won the toss, but Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose made good use of conditions, as the ball moved both ways, with three wickets in 18 balls.

The damage was repaired by Waugh, Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting, who took the attack to the Windies bowlers as conditions got easier for batting.

Day 2: Cheers for the Aussie Waugh-lord

For the second successive day, Steve Waugh and his buoyant Australians dominated proceedings at Kensington Oval.

Waugh, considered international cricket's most dependable batsman, appeared to be on the verge of his second double-century against the West Indies before he was dismissed one run shy of the mark.

His 19th Test hundred was the mainstay of Australia's first innings total of 490 and by the close of Day 2 of the third Cable & Wireless Test, West Indies were struggling on 80 for four.

Day 5: Test of the Century, Nail biting win

Haydn Gill

From the cruel crucifixion, to the renowned resurrection, to the astonishing ascension.

Amid unbearable tension, drama and excitement, Brian Lara yesterday confirmed his status as modern day's greatest batsman with yet another brilliant, breath-taking century that lifted the West Indies to one of Test cricket's most famous victories by the narrowest of margins - one wicket.

Heartbeats fluttered, thousands sweated, finger-nails were bitten, but through it all the left-handed genius defied, then dominated, Australia's attack until his nearly impossible mission was accomplished.

It will go down in the history books as one of the most spirited ever revivals; the victory coming from the depths of despair when the West Indies were in dire straits on 98 for six in their first innings after Australia had posted a massive 490.

Lara ended the fascinating contest with an expansive drive through extra-cover, and even before the ball could reach the boundary scores of frenzied fans scampered onto the Kensington Oval turf that their hallowed hero had made his home for four-and-a-half hours.

It was Lara's 19th and most significant boundary, and it carried him to 153, half of the West Indies' target of 308.

Nerves were stretched to the limit in the pursuit of the final 50 runs, which Lara obtained with the help of his two great fast bowlers, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

Victory attained, Lara grabbed a stump and sprinted to meet overjoyed teammates and spectators overcome by the moment.

Many of them, intoxicated by alcohol as much as by the win, kissed the ground. Long before that, they had been jumping and gyrating to calypso and reggae that had been blaring from the Greenidge and Haynes Stand for the entire day.

By now, everyone had forgotten the debacle of Trinidad, where West Indies crashed to their lowest ever Test total - 51.

Lara's monumental double-hundred in Jamaica squared the series. And yesterday's magic gave West Indies a 2-1 lead, making them favourites to regain the Frank Worrell Trophy their opponents took away in 1995.

``It was a tremendous effort by everyone, good teamwork, and we came up with a victory,'' Lara said at the post-match Press conference.

``We will remember this for years, forever. It's just a really great moment.''

Lara's 153, his 12th Test hundred and first at Kensington, was made with countless authentic strokes, none better than a scorching cover-drive off his arch-nemesis, Shane Warne, that left some spectators simply ecstatic.

There was, however, a scintillating duel against another long-time nemesis, Glenn McGrath. The tall fast bowler, who had threatened to take Australia to victory with the quick wickets of Jimmy Adams, Ridley Jacobs and Nehemiah Perry, twice struck Lara with telling blows.

After the first, which Lara took on his helmet, the two players engaged in a heated exchange. When Lara was back in strike, he responded by despatching the next ball to the mid-wicket fence with enormous ferocity.

By then, the West Indies had recovered from the early dismissals of Adrian Griffith and Carl Hooper. Lara and Adams were seemingly repeating their heroics of Sabina Park with a sixth-wicket partnership of 133.

But 238 for five was suddenly transformed into a worrying 248 for eight, the devilish McGrath removing Adams with an unplayable ball and taking care of Jacobs and Perry, both lbw victims.

The beanpole Ambrose resisted admirably, adding 54 with his captain. Then entered Walsh with six runs still needed.

By then, Lara had been dropped by wicket-keeper Ian Healy when he was on 145. It was one costly miss for the Australians. Once Walsh survived one more ball from McGrath, Lara ended the memorable match.