CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

West Indies cricket sinks to a new low at Pune

Pune, Feb 29: West Indies cricket sank to a new low today when they were completely outplayed by Kenya, a non-Test-playing country, a team composed of 100 per cent amateurs and only accustomed to playing cricket one day a week during their cricket season.

The humiliation of the West Indies was written on a hot day at Pune, at the Nehru Stadium in front of a crowd of 15,000 nonpartisan fans. The glory of the Kenyans, who throughout this tournament always thought high enough of themselves as giant killers, was reflected in their unrestrained joy, the leaping and the high fives, and the lap of honour that they navigated to tremendous ovation from their new found fans at Pune.

The margin of victory is also another unforgettable aspect for the West Indians. It is the biggest upset ever in International cricket and the cheerless cricketers of the Caribbean have only themselves to blame. The lowest score before today that the West Indies managed in the World Cup was 136 against South Africa at Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1991. Today, chasing a target of 166 they caved in for 93.

Richie Richardson won the toss and quickly elected to field. This was the correct decision as the pitch showed grass and with a bit of moisture left over from preparation and as cool, misty, early morning conditions (9.00 a.m. start) the advantage clearly was to the bowlers. Richardson's men strolled onto the field with an air of indifference that showed and so played the game.

On a helpful wicket, a lot of movement off the seam for the faster men, the first indication was that the Kenyans would be lucky to get to a hundred. The Africans not fancying the opposition, appeared timid in their approach. But as the game wore on and the West Indians took it easier and easier, six batsmen back in the pavilion for 81 runs, they never gave up. Facing up to their famous superiors, they knew they had nothing to lose. They scratched and pushed and hit their way to 166, a total which had looked unlikely earlier on.

Richardson again, did the same thing as he did against Zimbabwe, bringing on occasional bowler Keith Arthurton, when it was neither necessary nor warranted. it seemed to be gross overconfidence on his part for his main bowlers had not completed their quota, nor had they been that bad, to be replaced by someone like Arthurton who went for 15 in four overs.

But, the biggest fault of all was allowing runs to score pretty freely without really assessing the wicket and doing so, reckoning what would be a safe total to conquer without bother. Steven Tikolo and Hitesh Modi, especially the latter played and missed a number of times but rode their luck well to register 29 and 28 respectively. Then Thomas Odoyo added 24 hard fought runs.

The going was never easy. But everyone thought that it was just the weakness of the inexperienced Kenyan batsmen and not that of a pitch, difficult to negotiate the seaming ball.

However, as soon as the West Indians took their turn at the crease, steady bowling by Martin Suji and Rajib Ali, utilising the dying stages of movement from the wicket, it was generally realised that the Caribbean had a fight on their hands. Both Richardson and Sherwin Campbell were beaten and forced into wayward strokeplay. By the first ball of the fifth over they were both meditating their early demise in the pavilion. The skipper, driving at a well-pitched up delivery outside the off stump inside-edged it onto his leg stump. His partner Campbell moved across too far and the resultant off cutter cruised past his bat and pads and smashed into his leg stump behind his back.

Brian Lara, accompanied by a generous applause, waltzed into the first ball he received and dispatched it with sweet timing and elegance to the cover boundary. Spectators relaxed and thought of enjoying the artist at work. But the left handed run accumulator struggled. He attempted a couple of poor shots and seemed ill at ease. Someone sent out a message to him by Roland Holder, who carried a bottle of mineral water in his hand as the excuse for coming on to the field of play, replacing the normal glove, probably to tell him to play it cool. It was infradig. He held out his bat to one that moved off the seam and at 3 for 33 the West Indies were in deep trouble.

The procession continued. No one stayed for any length of time to make a difference. no one was capable of changing the game. West Indies had lost the plot and now had to pay for their indifference.

Kenya played above and beyond their wildest dreams. As wickets kept toppling Maurice Odumbe, the captain, kept his head and his men in check. He seemed to know that in a situation like this emotions could take over and ruin all the initial spade work that was done. Everyone was on their toes, they scented success and knew that Kenyan glory was around the corner once they carried on fielding like tigers, not allowing the batsmen to get on top. It was a magnificent effort by Kenya, a poor show by the West Indies.

This type of defeat by a strictly amateur team on a powerful cricket playing country like the West Indies in a World Cup match with so much at stake is unprecedented in the five previous World Cup competitions. There are absolutely no excuses. West Indies enjoyed the better conditions, won the toss and should have won this game on a canter. That they didn't was through overconfidence, indifference and lack of purpose.

Richardson could only manage at the end of the day the following, ``I am very, very disappointed that we did not play properly today. That's all I have to say''. His counterpart Odumbe said, `` I cannot explain my feelings. It is like a dream come true. This is the happiest day of my life and I cannot pinpoint anyone on my team for special mention as it was a team effort and we were all very happy to be well received by the Indian crowd during the lap of honour.

We wanted to win a match before going back, but the West Indies is a bonus. We know the reputation of their batting and the over reliance on Brian Lara so we thought that if we could dismiss him our chances would be good and we stuck to our task''.

The West Indies really have their homework cut out to recover from this ignominy, not only for the balance of this contest but for the future. As for Kenya this could only do their cricket good and improve it with youngsters believing more and more in themselves. That self-confidence can do their cricket wonders.