Zimbabwe Cricket Union

1ST MATCH -- ZIMBABWE v WEST INDIES

At Hyderabad; 16 February 1996. ZIMBABWE 151/9 (G W Flower 31; C E L Ambrose 3/28). WEST INDIES 155/4 (S L Campbell 47, R B Richardson 32, B C Lara 43*; P A Strang 4/40). West Indies won by six wickets (full scorecard). The Zimbabwean players were naturally somewhat nervous going into their first match, with little opportunity to acclimatise, against the team that was still one of the strongest in the world at Test level, although the seeds of decline were there to see. This was a first experience of day/night cricket for most of the Zimbabweans, which put them at an immediate disadvantage, and they were relieved to win the toss and avoid batting under lights.

Batting first on a flat pitch with a bit of bounce, Zimbabwe batted poorly and never looked like presenting any sort of challenge. The bowling was opened by Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh to the Flower brothers; this renowned pair concentrated on line and length rather than trying to blast the batsmen out by sheer pace; not that it was the sort of pitch to make that easily possible. Andy did not last long, getting a good ball from Ambrose which moved away from him and snicking it to the keeper.

Grant Flower and Guy Whittall took the score past 50 in a useful partnership but, just as they might have been getting on top of the bowling, Flower drove at Ottis Gibson without being quite to the pitch of the ball, giving a return catch, and the decline set in. Two run-outs in quick succession was the equivalent of shooting themselves in the foot, although Whittall's run-out after a minor collision with Ian Bishop was not really his fault.

Whittall was going for a second run, past Bishop who had stopped in the middle of the pitch at the end of his follow-through. Without looking, Bishop took a step backwards to return to his mark, and his back foot tripped Whittall as he passed, and he fell headlong, to be run out. Questions were later asked about the sportsmanship of the West Indians in allowing such a dismissal to take place, but in fact most of the team did not appear to see what had happened, and Bishop himself said nothing.

Only minutes before, Whittall had turned a ball off his hips to midwicket and Brian Lara at midwicket threw the stumps down from side-on to run out Alistair Campbell. Sean Davies later ran himself out with a very poor call, probably due to inexperience. This was to be his only World Cup match, and probably his last appearance on the international stage.

Ambrose caused the Zimbabweans particular difficulty, although the other West Indian bowlers also did a good job. Ian Bishop bowled his ten overs for only 18 runs, also concentrating on line and length, and getting good lift from the pitch, while Gibson's stock ball was the away-swinger. Roger Harper also impressed as an off-spinner, but the Zimbabweans felt they should have been able to get after him more than they did.

Richie Richardson got the West Indies off to a good start, but they were helped by some inaccurate Zimbabwean bowling, with Heath Streak in particular well below his best form. But he and Sherwin Campbell had to do little more than put away the bad ball without having to attempt anything extravagant.

When Paul Strang came on to bowl as third change, finding a bit of turn from the pitch, the batsmen's dominance was threatened for the first time. Not even Brian Lara appeared to 'read' him with any confidence. But, despite his four wickets, it was too late; Grant Flower thinks that had Zimbabwe been able to score even 200, they might have been in with a chance.

Richardson was first to go, caught in the slips almost as soon as Strang came on to bowl. He was replaced by Lara, who was dropped first ball, a very difficult high chance past Alistair Campbell's right shoulder at slip. He went on to play some fine shots in a dashing innings. However, Strang was a match for the batsmen at the other end. He bowled Sherwin Campbell with a beautiful googly, and then Chanderpaul missed a high full toss on his leg stump. Next Alistair Campbell took a fine catch at slip off a googly, diving forward to his left to dismiss Keith Arthurton. He took three wickets in seven balls, and also had Lara dropped in the slips and beaten a couple of times with googlies outside the off stump. This was the first time Strang had made any real impact in international cricket, and it could hardly have come at a more appropriate time, with the spotlight in the right place.

Lara did play some magnificent strokes, though, most notably a pull for six over square leg off a ball from Heath Streak that was only a little short of a length, and also a straight six off Strang to win the match. His unbeaten 43 came off only 31 balls.

The ground was about three-quarters full, and as usual quite boisterous. The Zimbabweans had little to do with the West Indians off the field; in contrast to the outgoing West Indian teams of the eighties, this team was generally perceived as aloof and arrogant, and unprepared to mix with the opposition.

Material on this site is copyright by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and CricInfo except where otherwise stated in the source or copyright statements.

Internet connectivity for the Zimbabwe Cricket Union is provided by Samara Internet Services

Date-stamped : 04 May1999 - 03:14