6TH MATCH -- ZIMBABWE v WEST INDIES

This was a dead match as far as the Zimbabweans were concerned, as they knew they would not make the semi-finals; they had given their all in the earlier games and some of the team were reaching the verge of exhaustion. Others, though, were still hungry for more of what was to them at that stage a unique experience. They felt their batting in particular was beginning to adjust to true international-class bowling.

Zimbabwe won the toss at last, but were to regret their decision to bat on a cold overcast day on a very quick pitch where the ball moved around considerably. The top order fell very early, and soon Zimbabwe were reeling at 42 for five in the face of magnificent bowling at extreme pace by Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Wayne Daniel, who also used the short ball frequently as in those days there were no regulations to limit it in one-day cricket. The Zimbabweans had not faced bowling of this pace on such a helpful pitch before, and had no answer to it.

Joel Garner had not played in the first match between the teams, and Robin Brown remembers going in the bat and walking with Grant Paterson almost alongside Garner and Clive Lloyd. Lloyd said to Garner, "Here's the new ball; I want you to run in and bowl as fast as you can. I don't mind where it goes, but just bowl flat out." Garner did so, and bowled at a vicious pace that day, and Brown remembers how every ball seemed to go through chest-high from just short of a length. He dismissed Paterson and Jack Heron with successive balls that lifted and moved away off the seam, to yield catches to slip and the keeper respectively.

Brown was hit on the neck by one of Marshall's skidding bouncers and virtually knocked unconscious. They did not have a proper sight-screen at the ground then, and he lost the ball against the background of seats; he half-turned his head away, to be hit on the back of the neck, his helmet saving him from serious injury. He was not prepared to be carried off the field, as Graeme Wood and Dilip Vengsarkar had already been while playing the West Indies, and courageously continued batting. The next ball was a half-volley outside the off stump and, by his own admission too eager to look for immediate revenge, he slashed at it, only to edge the ball straight to the keeper. The Zimbabwean policy had been to try to hook short bowling off the quick bowlers on the slow English pitches, but Marshall and Co were just too fast for this to be successful. Brown tried to take the field for Zimbabwe later in the day, but soon had to come off, and Ali Shah went on as substitute.

After the dismissal of Heron, Marshall worked on Andy Pycroft with a series of deliveries outside the off stump, then bowled him a slower ball a little wider, tempting him to flash fatally and snick a catch to the keeper. Dave Houghton flicked a ball down the leg side, only to find Clive Lloyd taking a brilliant one-handed diving catch from leg slip, and five wickets were down for 42.

Duncan Fletcher, as so often, began a recovery, while Kevin Curran played an outstanding innings. He played one particularly memorable stroke, hitting Garner off the front foot over his head with a short-arm jab into the stands by the players' changing rooms for a very low-flying six. After that Garner never bowled him another delivery short of the blockhole. It was something of a relief, though, that the two West Indian change bowlers Gomes and Richards bowled a full quota of 12 overs each, while Garner, Davis and Daniel did not. Garner was particularly difficult to get away, as with his extra height good-length balls were continually rising waist-high.

A total of 171 was never likely to be enough, and it resulted in Zimbabwe's worst loss of the tournament -- and indeed in their World Cup history. With Greenidge injured, Faoud Bacchus took his opportunity opening with Desmond Haynes and played a fine innings; the West Indies cruised home, giving no chances. Again Zimbabwe were given a lesson in how to push the ball around the ground, accumulating by picking up the ones and twos, rather than concentrating on hitting fours all the time.

The Zimbabwean pace bowlers could get little help from the pitch and were given scarcely a chance by batting of high standard. Iain Butchart was promoted to open the Zimbabwean bowling in that innings, Fletcher's hope being that he could keep it quiet for a while after his economical bowling at Tunbridge Wells and also use up part of his quota of overs, keeping some of the front-line bowlers in reserve, but it did not work. For the first time, Pycroft feels, Zimbabwe were not merely outplayed but also outclassed.

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