West Indies thrives on Zimbabwe's disintegration

By Vijay Lokapally

HARARE, JUNE 23. The colour lay in the clothing and the stands. Not in the game at all. Cricket on the field lacked the flavour which makes limited- overs competition such a spectacle as the West Indies completed a comfortable 27-run victory over Zimbabwe in the opening match of the triangular series here on Saturday.

It was a lovely day for cricket. A noisy crowd and pleasant sun was a heady combination for the Harare Sports Club to be so well decked up for the occasion. But then the home team's dressing room experienced a quiet quake which spared the stands but not Zimbabwean cricket.

When Grant Flower walked out for the toss, it appeared a good- charm move. But slowly news filtered that Heath Streak had stepped down in protest and Guy Whittall too had declined the position, leaving Zimbabwe with a new captain a few minutes before the toss.

It was a dark moment for Zimbabwean cricket but one aimed at highlighting the growing discord between the players and the administration as Streak became the third captain to quit the post after Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell. This time the issue being team selection.

The administrators may have their point to make and so would the players but this was a move initiated at the wrong time. The crowd had no clue about the ugly episode but it must have dawned upon them when Flower directed all the changes on the field, and not Streak, who was not happy with the team given to him.

The controversy had its impact on the contest as the Zimbabweans disintegrated as a team and at one point looked a haggard lot through some uncharacteristic poor fielding. This was not the Zimbabwean team Streak had raised through years of toil and it hurt the people in the stands more because the pasting came at the hands of the West Indies. The locals fancy their chances immensely against this team which has gone through bad times for quite some time.

Zimbabwe, electing to field, just played into the hands of the West Indies, which saw the batting line-up coming to grips with the conditions. It was not the best of the batting performances simply because the bowling was undisciplined, with the exceptions of the past and the current captains - Streak and Grant Flower.

West Indian openers make hay

The opening pair of Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga made good use of the wayward Zimbabweans even though the spark was missing from the shots. Steady batsmen both, Gayle and Ganga built their innings through a sound approach which gave an insight into the plans the West Indians had for the day.

The idea was clearly to concentrate on the scoring opportunities that resulted from a poor line adopted by Andy Blignaut. The openers avoided taking on an accurate Streak but Blignaut and later Travis Friend sprayed the ball and gave the batsmen enough time and space to pick boundaries in all corners. The hard work of Streak had been wasted.

The West Indians had every reason to be proud of the performance. All their batsmen struck form and importantly it was the manner in which each realised his role that gave the West Indian victory greater merit. Brian Lara's absence was not even felt.

The century-plus association between Gayle and Ganga was an ideal start to the tournament. Gayle was lucky when he was put down in the slips by Stuart Carlisle off Andy Blignaut but this blemish apart, the opener was a treat to watch. Ganga matched him with some fluent strokeplay as the two exploited the Zimbabwean attack.

Wavell Hinds too made the best use of the situation before he was run out in a terrible mix-up but Shivnarine Chanderpaul meanwhile paced his innings in a crafty style. The left-hander from Guyana was joined by skipper Carl Hooper, who stepped up the tempo with a few robust shots, a pull for six off Friend being quite savage.

Grant Flower's task was made difficult by some poor bowling by Friend and Mluleki Nkala. Leg-spinner Brian Murphy did well to attack and was rewarded with two wickets. The pick of the bowlers were Streak and Grant Flower.

Zimbabwe needed a bright start but Dion Ebrahim was not up to the standards. Stuart Carlisle was snapped brilliantly by Hopper from a firm drive while Grant Flower perished to a cut from a very cramped position.

The out-of-form Campbell now found the going easy to get some runs against his name but he was too slow to make a meaningful impact on the chase. He never looked in a position to dictate the course of the match and was content to compile a half century, his 32nd in One-day internationals, which should keep him in good stead in the forthcoming matches.

Zimbabwe suffered everytime a partnership appeared to be building up. The Campbell-Blignaut stand may have raised some hopes but it ended when the latter was sent back on a second run and failed to beat Cameroon Cuffy's throw. The West Indians sensed a comfortable victory at this point and shut the opposition out despite a spirited fifty-run stand between Campbell and Guy Whittall. Whittall and Campbell holed out to ambitious strokes after having delayed the inevitable.

Cameroon Cuffy was adjudged `Man of the match' for his tight bowling at the start of the Zimbabwe innings.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Humpy triumphs
Next     : First tri-nation tourney in Zimbabwe