John Polack
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8th Match: Australia v West Indies at Adelaide, 26 Jan 2001 John Polack |
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Australia innings:
West Indies innings: |
Cricket is not supposed to be a blood sport. But this most abject of performances from the tourists transformed it into something akin to it.
There was a sell-out crowd. There were glorious weather conditions. There was another true Adelaide Oval pitch. There was even the suggestion that the West Indians might play a little more confidently than usual after a last-start win over Zimbabwe. But, in the way of a more resilient performance from the tourists, there was simply nothing to be seen.
Captain Jimmy Adams won the toss and, without hesitation, decided that his team would bat first in ideal conditions. It was the team's first and last victory of this Australia Day.
By as early as the eighth ball of their innings, the West Indians were on the literal and metaphorical back foot. And, aside from a forty-one run stand for the tenth wicket that offered a touch of respectability, they never recovered.
Daren Ganga (0), Ridley Jacobs (2), Brian Lara (0), Marlon Samuels (4), Adams (4) and Ricardo Powell (16) were all removed before so many as twelve overs were bowled. The main point of discussion by then was not so much how many the tourists would score as to simply how long they would last. Also in dispute was whether the side as a whole could avoid the ignominious prospect of recording West Indies' lowest ever score in a one-day international. That mark of 87 was under pressure for a long period and was only bettered, in fact, when the final pairing of Nixon McLean (24*) and Cameron Cuffy (13) set off on easily the best partnership of the innings.
Albeit wholly welcome, the application shown by McLean and Cuffy in a forty-one run liaison reflected badly on their teammates. Few were able to last for anything but brief periods; even fewer managed to produce the sort of assured strokeplay that the circumstances demanded.
Only five players - McLean, Mahendra Nagamootoo (20), Powell (16), Cuffy and Sylvester Joseph (11) - so much as reached double figures. It was a measure, in fact, of the general ineptitude of the batsmanship on offer that extras served to make the biggest contribution of all to the eventual total of 123.
In the furious battle to snare the best bowling figures from the West Indian wreckage, it was speedster Lee (4/33 from ten overs) who emerged with the spoils. Lee had endured a rather troubled Carlton Series before today, finding the twin tasks of taking wickets and slowing run-scoring equally difficult. But he was never subjected to any pressure during his two stints at the bowling crease on this occasion.
On his return from injury, swing bowler Fleming (3/32 off ten) acquitted himself impressively. He was the one, in fact, who started the West Indian rot when he induced Ganga to edge a shot into the slips from only the second delivery of his comeback performance. There was a similarly effective contribution from medium pacer Ian Harvey (2/11 from 7.1 overs) through the middle and latter stages of the innings.
The tag of 'day-night' that had originally been applied to this match was then rendered a misnomer as Martyn (69*) and local hero Lehmann (50*) were thrown together at the top of the Australian order. In the space of just ninety-one minutes at the crease, the pair slaughtered an attack that found line, length and consistency elusive commodities.
Martyn played particularly explosively, matching crisp driving through the off side with some glorious strokes off the back foot. It was perhaps just as well that South Australian Lehmann, while more sedate, was in good touch too in front of an adoring home crowd of 27640. If he had not been, many among that number might, justifiably, have been demanding their money back.
Martyn, starved of opportunities in this series, has played a particularly explosive innings to this point. He was in especially fine touch in the fifth over, striking Nixon McLean for three boundaries in the space of four deliveries with two magnificent cover drives and one cracking pull. The quality of his strokeplay has been excellent throughout this early part of Australia's display with the bat.
Lehmann, meanwhile, has played in more sedate fashion. He has been happy merely to accumulate runs for the most part and to turn over the strike to his more urgent partner. In his presence at the crease, though, at least some interest and entertainment has finally been offered to an adoring local crowd.
Having flocked to the ground in huge numbers and in anticipation of a high-scoring encounter, the sell-out audience has otherwise witnessed a rather disappointing set of developments. In fact, if it had not been for the doughty partnership of forty-one for the last wicket between McLean (24*) and Cameron Cuffy (13) that swelled the West Indian score to 123, they might have already found that they had been required to pay full price for a show that lasted for less than half of the advertised timeslot.
In front of a sellout crowd and in glorious weather conditions, and even with a rare tour win from their last start behind them, all pointed toward a more resilient performance from the tourists today. It was not to be.
By as early as the eighth ball of this innings, the West Indians were on the literal and metaphorical back foot. And, aside from a forty-one run stand for the tenth wicket that offered a scintilla of respectability, they never recovered.
Daren Ganga (0), Ridley Jacobs (2), Brian Lara (0), Marlon Samuels (4), Jimmy Adams (4) and Ricardo Powell (16) were all removed before so many as twelve overs were bowled, and the main point of discussion by then was whether the side as a whole could avoid the ignominious prospect of recording West Indies' lowest score in a one-day international. That mark of 87 was under pressure for a long period and was only bettered, in fact, when the final pairing of Nixon McLean (24*) and Cameron Cuffy (13) set off on easily the best partnership of the innings.
Albeit wholly welcome, the application shown by McLean and Cuffy reflected badly on their teammates. Few were able to last for anything but brief periods; fewer still managed to produce the sort of assured strokeplay that should have been a formality after Adams' victory at the toss.
Only five players - McLean, Mahendra Nagamootoo (20), Powell (16), Cuffy and Sylvester Joseph (11) - even reached double figures. It was a measure, in fact, of the general ineptitude of the batsmanship on offer that extras served to make the biggest contribution of all to the total. To all intents and purposes, it seemed like the biggest disruptions to the general pattern of wicket taking came with the rash of drinks breaks instituted to relieve the players from the effects of another warm Adelaide day.
In the furious battle to snare the best bowling figures from the West Indian wreckage, it was speedster Brett Lee (4/33 from ten overs) who emerged with the spoils. Lee had endured a rather troubled Carlton Series before today, finding the twin tasks of taking wickets and containing run scoring equally difficult. But he was never subjected to any pressure during his two stints at the bowling crease on this occasion.
On his return from injury, swing bowler Damien Fleming (3/32 off ten) acquitted himself impressively. There was a similarly effective contribution from medium pacer Ian Harvey (2/11 from 7.1 overs) through the middle and latter stages of the innings.
Given the prevalence of perfect weather and the appearance of the pitch, there was nothing in the pre-match conditions at the ground to suggest the collapse that was about to follow. That assessment, however, rather ignored the frailties that have been evident in the West Indian upper order for large periods of this visit to Australia.
It was as early as the second over - and only the second delivery from Fleming (2/16 from five overs) after a long period on the sidelines with injury no less - that the first wicket fell. Somewhat ironically in the circumstances, Mark Waugh seemed only partially focused on the game, turning his back hastily as a thick edged shot from Daren Ganga (0) flew in his direction at second slip. Fortunately for the Australians, though, the ball merely ballooned off Waugh's body and away to his left, which allowed Shane Warne to complete a relatively easy catch moving away from his position at slip.
A devastating burst then saw a succession of victims shamble in ashen-faced fashion back to the pavilion. Ridley Jacobs (2) was the next to depart, losing his off stump three overs later to a stinging yorker from Lee (3/23 off seven overs).
Brian Lara (0) and Marlon Samuels (4) were the players who were able to avert a crisis for the West Indians in yesterday's match against Zimbabwe. But the home side soon ensured that they would not be conjuring up anything along similar lines today. Lara disappeared first ball, trapped plumb in front by a delivery from Lee which pitched on leg stump and straightened as he defended down the wrong line. Samuels then fished outside the line of his off stump for an offering from Fleming; the result was a thin outside edge and a catch low to the ground for wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.
Captain Jimmy Adams (4) occupied the crease for a comparative eternity - all of twenty-five minutes, in fact. He could not hold back the tide either, however, and was another left hander to be undone on the line of his crease by the angle and speed of Lee. The New South Wales fast bowler, who was working up tremendous pace with a light breeze at his back by this stage, gave Umpire Simon Taufel little cause for hesitation by trapping Adams straight in front of his stumps.
To make matters even worse for the tourists, not even the removal of Fleming from the attack proved helpful. Medium pacer Ian Harvey (1/2 from two overs) rapidly joined in on the wicket-taking act once his Victorian teammate had been relieved, using up only five deliveries in the process of inducing Ricardo Powell (16) to play all around the line of a ball which stayed straight.
As part of their rotation process, the Australians chose today to rest the two bowlers - Glenn McGrath and Nathan Bracken - who have frequently assumed the new ball duties in this series. But it has scarcely made any difference whatsoever.
What a West Indian victory will almost certainly require is a solid start with the bat on what looks to be another true pitch. And the precursors for that are in place at least after captain Jimmy Adams' excellent run at the toss continued earlier this afternoon, allowing him to give openers Ridley Jacobs and Daren Ganga first use of the wicket. Before a packed crowd, under sunny skies, and in warm temperatures, there should certainly be no shortage of excitement through the early stages.
There is one sour note at the start for the tourists, though. Vice-captain Sherwin Campbell has been forced out of the team with injury and has been replaced by Sylvester Joseph.
The Australians, meanwhile, had signalled yesterday that batsman Ricky Ponting and pacemen Glenn McGrath and Nathan Bracken would be the latest players to be rested under the rotation process that they are using in this tournament. They have duly honoured those intentions. This leaves Adam Gilchrist and man-of-the-moment Mark Waugh to open the batting, and last game hero Darren Lehmann to slot in behind them at number three in the order. Also key members of today's line-up are Steve Waugh and Damien Fleming, each of whom returns after waging frustrating battles with injury. Waugh comes back following his duel with a niggling groin strain, while the Victorian swing bowler makes his re-appearance after a longer and more intense struggle. He has suffered a series of injuries, the latest coming in early December when he sustained a bulged disc in his neck.
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Date-stamped : 26 Jan2001 - 14:23