John Polack
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7th Match: West Indies v Zimbabwe at Adelaide, 25 Jan 2001 John Polack |
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West Indies innings:
Pre-game: Zimbabwe innings: |
Chasing a difficult target of 253 from a maximum forty-seven overs, Zimbabwe was mounting a significant attack upon it when spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, sideways and hard to his left, thrust out an outstretched hand to haul in a breathtaking catch and remove star batsman Andy Flower (50) in the midst of the evening session.
And later, captain Jimmy Adams produced another remarkable catch, even to the point of nearly knocking himself out as he crashed to the ground with the ball, running back from mid wicket to intercept a lofted stroke played toward mid on by Dirk Viljoen (7).
They were two wonderful efforts that underlined a crucial difference in the Carlton Series encounter between the sides today.
Together with his brother Grant (41), Flower had conceived a steadying partnership of ninety for the fourth wicket that had looked to be easing Zimbabwe back into the match. Following the early departures of Guy Whittall (17), Alistair Campbell (20) and Stuart Carlisle (4) to disappointing strokes, the pair serially cut, nudged and drove a steady attack to distraction. At least, that was, until Nagamootoo's intervention.
Coming as it did in the thirty-fifth over and with the Zimbabweans at the respectable scoreline of 3/137, the leg spinner's freakish caught and bowled certainly loomed large among the defining points of the match. It was the first of his four wickets and triggered a dramatic decline during which seven tumbled in total for the addition of a paltry thirty-eight runs. Accordingly, it might also carry crucial implications for the tight battle for second place behind Australia that continues in this three-cornered series.
But no mention of Nagamootoo's effort would be complete without acknowledgment of Adams' endeavours nor of three bad misses, by contrast, from the Zimbabweans earlier in the day.
Continuing their dismal run in the field in this series - a run which stands in stark contrast to the reputation that they possess for being a good fielding team - the Zimbabweans committed the sin of granting two lives to Brian Lara (70) and another to Marlon Samuels (68) that were critical in the final analysis.
Diving forward at mid wicket, Gavin Rennie failed to clutch a mistimed pull when the brilliant left hander's score was on ten. Then, with Lara at twenty-two, slip fieldsman Campbell seemed to barely even lay so much as a fingernail on a thick outside edged shot as he pressed forward at leg spinner Brian Murphy. Later - with Samuels at forty-seven, to be precise - another catch went down when Carlisle misjudged the flight of a lofted on drive at Viljoen, charging forward from his position on the rope to try and intercept the stroke but somehow finding himself too far in from the boundary and having to desperately throw out an outstretched right hand.
For a side whose bowlers looked increasingly unthreatening on a benign pitch, luxuries such as dropped catches did not need to be frittered away so recklessly.
With the temperature hovering in the high thirties on the Celsius scale, Lara and Samuels slowly wore down an attack that struggled to produce a great deal in the way of menacing deliveries. Both started a touch hesitantly - Lara played well away from his body initially and Samuels was somewhat uncertain outside the line of off stump - but gradually assumed control. At the venue where he scored a sparkling 182 in a Test match earlier in the summer, Lara was arguably the more impressive of the two batsmen, sprinkling attacking strokes all around the ground. But Samuels also played well, especially forward of the wicket on the off side.
In a whirlwind flurry before a cool change and driving rain replaced the scorching heat, Ricardo Powell (33) and Nagamootoo (22*) then continued the West Indian charge. The break in the weather curtailed the innings at the forty-seven over mark but not before the score had reached a more than respectable 6/235. Under Duckworth/Lewis calculations, this total was revised upward to leave their opponents requiring an extra eighteen runs off the same number of overs for victory.
In the end, though, far greater generosity on the part of officials and the West Indian fieldsmen would have been required for the target to be successfully pursued.
Although the required run rate continues to mount all the while, the two brothers have performed a steady job of salvaging Zimbabwe's chances in the contest. At 3/47 in the twelfth over, the side had been in significant trouble. So, in that context, the pair's serial cutting, nudging and driving into gaps on both sides of the wicket has been intelligently applied.
The middle overs of the Zimbabwean innings have, in fact, been a model of relative inactivity. Although there has been little urgency in the scoring - underlined by the notion that a boundary has not been struck since as long ago as the twentieth over - the West Indian bowlers, similarly, have made little impression on either batsman. A string of misfields have also begun to render the West Indian fielding to the status of unimpressive. The biggest highlight of recent overs, in fact, probably came when Andy Flower pushed his score to twenty-eight to take his one-day international aggregate to the 5,000 run mark.
The prospect of further rain in Adelaide tonight still remains high. The good news, though, is that there has been no break in the weather as yet tonight and that enough overs have already been bowled to ensure that this will not be reduced to the status of a no-contest.
In the calm between what might be at least two storms, the Zimbabweans have made a hard-hitting yet rather disappointing start to their innings, reaching the mark of 3/62 after fifteen overs. Openers Alistair Campbell (20) and Guy Whittall (17) set the tone, displaying aggression from the outset in the form of a number of excellent shots and dynamic running between the wickets. Whittall was the chief aggressor through the early stages, including one magnificently hit six over mid wicket among a number of shots that were expertly lifted over the infield. Campbell's strength was in piercing the field forward of the wicket on the off side.
But the brisk tempo was soon disturbed by the loss of each of their wickets. Whittall fell in the ninth over when he attempted an ambitious pull stroke at a lifting delivery from Nixon McLean and ballooned the ball in the direction of a slightly backpedalling Marlon Samuels at slip. And then, just two overs later, the end was nigh for Campbell too. He departed when he failed to middle a cut at the same bowler and picked out Ricardo Powell at point with radar-like accuracy.
Worse was to follow for Zimbabwe when number three Stuart Carlisle (4) made his exit in the twelfth over after playing a half drive-half cut from the front foot at the bowling of Cameron Cuffy. The result was a meek inside edge back into the stumps and a crestfallen trudge back to the pavilion in the knowledge that he had helped reduce his team's score to 3/47 in the process.
Earlier, no play had been possible for more than ninety minutes after the advent of a torrential downpour had necessitated a premature end to the West Indian innings. Under Duckworth/Lewis calculations, West Indies' score of 6/235 after its forty-seven overs was revised to leave its opponents requiring an extra eighteen runs off the same number of overs for victory.
Driving rain, and the quick loss of wickets, combined to ensure that the West Indians lost their way to some extent during the concluding stages of their innings. But Jimmy Adams' men still look to have produced the sort of total that will strongly test their rivals when, weather permitting, their chase occurs tonight.
A cause that was assisted in no small measure by another error-ridden display in the field from the Zimbabweans, the West Indian assault was mounted largely on the back of an excellent 133-run partnership for the third wicket between Brian Lara (70) and Marlon Samuels (68). Lara and Samuels had been joined in the sixth over with their team struggling again at 2/16 as it strove to overcome the memory of an ignominious performance against the same opponent in Sydney just two days ago. But, after a slightly scratchy start, they slowly wore down an uninspired attack.
Lara was missed twice in the field (at ten and twenty-two) and Samuels once (at forty-seven) and, with each of those misses, so disappeared Zimbabwe's hopes of curtailing a noticeable acceleration of the scoring rate. It wasn't until left arm spinner Dirk Viljoen (1/47 off ten) finally lured Samuels into a top-edged cut in the thirty-fifth over that relief finally started to come the way of the fielding team.
Lara, who had shown a few signs of tiring even before he was dismissed, then joined his young teammate back in the pavilion six overs later when Alistair Campbell, at deep mid wicket, reversed the previous string of disasters in the field to intercept a powerful swipe at a Heath Streak (3/27 off eight overs) full toss.
As a cool change (that ultimately brought the rain with it) swept across Adelaide, so Ricardo Powell (33) continued to apply the heat to the Zimbabweans with a typically hard-hitting cameo. But the loss of his wicket, and the departure of Ridley Jacobs (7) to the second suicidal run out of the innings a short time later, ensured that the West Indians had suddenly surrendered three wickets for the addition of just twenty runs.
A belligerent Mahendra Nagamootoo (22*) and Adams (13*) then started to get things moving quickly again with some effective strokeplay before the innings was finally cut short. Albeit that he was restricted after sustaining an injury to his left leg while running between the wickets, Nagamootoo produced two huge sixes over the short boundary at square leg to announce himself as a particular nuisance to the Zimbabweans. The heaviness of his hitting was close to equivalent in measure to the force of the rain that then swept across the ground to force the players from the field eighteen deliveries ahead of the scheduled interval time.
With the temperature hovering in the mid-thirties on the Celsius scale, Lara and Samuels have slowly worn down an attack that has struggled to produce a great deal in the way of menacing deliveries. Both started a little hesitantly - Lara played well away from his body initially and Samuels was a little uncertain outside the line of off stump - but have gradually assumed control. At the venue where he scored a sparkling 182 in a Test match earlier in the summer, Lara has arguably been the more impressive of the two batsmen, sprinkling attacking strokes all around the ground. But Samuels has also played well, especially forward of the wicket on the off side.
Continuing their dismal run in the field in this series - a run which stands in stark contrast to the reputation that they possess for being a good fielding team - the Zimbabweans have already granted Lara two lives and Samuels one. At mid wicket, Gavin Rennie failed to clutch a mistimed pull diving forward when the brilliant left hander's score was on ten. Then, with Lara at twenty-two, slip fieldsman Alistair Campbell seemed to barely even lay so much as a fingernail on a thick outside edged shot as he pressed forward at leg spinner Brian Murphy. Later - with Samuels at forty-seven, to be precise - another catch went down when Stuart Carlisle misjudged the flight of a lofted on drive at Dirk Viljoen, charging forward from his position on the rope to try and intercept the stroke but somehow finding himself too far in from the boundary and having to desperately throw out an outstretched right hand.
For a side whose bowling attack is looking increasingly unthreatening on a benign pitch, luxuries such as dropped catches are far too expensive to give away so easily.
With a new opening combination, the West Indians made one of their better starts of the competition, surviving nearly five overs without the loss of a wicket. But the early break then duly came when vice-captain Sherwin Campbell (5) played an uncertain drive at a Heath Streak delivery and sent a comfortable waist-high catch arrowing in the direction of namesake Alistair Campbell at first slip.
When Daren Ganga (6) and Marlon Samuels (14*) became involved in a mix-up in the following over after Ganga had played a delightful stroke through square leg off his pads, the tourists had suddenly surrendered their last twelve wickets in the competition for a mere 107 runs. Ganga was interested in a second run, but Samuels was not, and the result was that the former was shown by television replays to have been unsuccessful in his attempt to return to his ground at the non-striker's end.
At number four, Brian Lara (11*) has been probably the only West Indian batsman to look in menacing mood so far. He has played and missed occasionally, survived a life when Gavin Rennie grassed a hot chance at mid wicket, and also earlier survived a bizarre attempt by the Zimbabweans to run him out - as he was playing practice shots on the line of the crease - with his score at nine. Otherwise, he has looked in ominous touch. One magnificent square driven six off the bowling of Bryan Strang in the tenth over was an excellent indicator of this.
At the other end, Samuels is offering good support, but not without enduring a difficult battle outside the line of his off stump. He has played at least two magnificent cover drives but has also issued a number of loose strokes, serially playing over the ball with errant cuts and inside the line with defensive shots.
Following a humiliating batting collapse in that aforementioned encounter in Sydney on Tuesday, the West Indians have shown a willingness to put those horrors behind them immediately, opting to bat first in this game after winning the toss. Of course, that decision is often not a difficult one in Adelaide, where curator Les Burdett has produced another beautiful, true pitch.
At the selection table this morning, the West Indians have signalled their dissatisfaction with the performance of their top order in this tournament, axing opener Wavell Hinds and replacing him with Daren Ganga. A change in their bowling attack has also been forced upon them; paceman Marlon Black has replaced all-rounder Laurie Williams, who is suffering from a broken finger.
The Zimbabweans, meanwhile, have named an unchanged line-up. They will be hoping that the same eleven players who led them to their amazing win on Tuesday will be able to pilot them to another triumph here - one that would go very close to securing them a finals berth against Australia in this three-cornered competition.
© CricInfo
Date-stamped : 25 Jan2001 - 22:23