West Indies pips Zimbabwe in nail-biting finish

By Vijay Lokapally

BULAWAYO, JULY 1. The triangular series came alive for the first time when the West Indies shut out Zimbabwe in a penultimate-ball finish at the Queen's Sports Club here.

Ridley Jacobs put Heath Streak away for a flicked boundary to bring the curtains down on this exciting contest which put the West Indies in the final, leaving its last league match against India a formality on July 4.

Zimbabwe put up a brave front even if a little late in the tournament. The West Indies concentrated on keeping the wickets in hand and the approach was evident from the manner in which Darren Ganga and Chris Gayle chose not to force the pace. Zimbabwe too realised it had to raise its game and there was a concerted effort from the team with the bowling sticking to an effective line.

Gayle played the dominant role in the stand and picked the ones and twos quite comfortably. It suited Ganga too even though he was daring on a few occasions, especially when he stepped out to hit a six.

The West Indians were cruising when Ganga showed poor judgement of a run. He never had a chance once his partner did notm respond and Andy Blignaut made no mistake from covers. It was an adventure misplaced because the West Indies had things working its way in just the way the team had planned.

Ganga's dismissal made no difference to the situation really as Wavell Hinds provided Gayle the right support. Runs came fluently but once again it was a needless show of aggression that cost West Indies a wicket. The wild swing by Gayle resulted in a top- edge which signalled a tame end to a fine knock.

Hinds now had Shivnarine Chanderpaul to carry on the work and the Zimbabweans too realised this was the time to put up a stiff resistence. Chanderpaul, after surviving a run at 19 when keeper Tatenda Taibu failed to whip off the bails in time, was dismissed in an unusual manner-flinging the bat onto the stumps in attempting a heave. Strangely, the decision was referred to the third umpire E. A. Esat. The West Indians were faced with an asking rate of eight at this point-needing 80 off 10 overs.

The pressure was eased a trifle by Hinds slamming Flower for a six and the excitement grew when the left-hander reached his fifty with a 6 to midwicket off Alistair Campbell. The Zimbabweans now had a fight on hand with Hinds looking an enormous threat. The Zimbabweans surely missed leg-spinner Brian Murphy, who failed to bowl because of a muscle pull.

The home team hit back at this stage when Heath Streak induced an edge off Hinds. It was a timid end to a brave knock. Streak was hoisted for a six in the same over by Carl Hooper to keep the West Indies in the fray.

Hooper and Jacobs flung their bat around and did not miss scampering for singles. The 32-run stand ended with Hooper holing out to wide long-off but the Zimbabweans had run out of steam by now. It boiled down to five off the last over and the job was accomplished by Jacobs and Samuels in a thrilling finish.

Grant Flower, Wishart flourish

Earlier, put in, the Zimbabweans thrived on two effective partnerships with Grant Flower playing the dominant role in both. He and Wishart added 126 runs in 133 balls for the fourth wicket and then Grant Flower was joined by Guy Whittall and the two put on 81 runs in 77 balls.

Batting was easier today compared to the conditions on Saturday. The different nature of the pitch meant that the batsmen could drive on the rise and this was the prime reason why Wishart flourished.

The range of shots at Wishart's disposal was impressive and he was indeed very effective in keeping himself focussed on the job despite some tight bowling by the West Indians in the initial stages. Wishart driving on the up was a delightful sight.

The West Indian bowling looked different once the shine wore off. It clearly lacked the firepower to sweep the opposition off its feet after the top three batsmen had succumbed cheaply.

Carl Hooper allowed things to drift after the early success. Dion Ebrahim and Alistair Campbell perished to catches in the slips as they failed to read Cameroon Cuffy, whose economy rate should be the envy of a lot of fast bowlers.

When Alistair Campbell became Corey Collymore's victim, surprised by the sudden bounce, the Zimbabweans looked headed for a collapse but then the West Indians failed to drive home the advantage. The tactics looked very predictable with Cuffy going through his quota and Hooper left with little option in the end overs when Zimbabwe took 82 runs off the West Indian attack. The lack of variety in the West Indian attack stood out sorely. The three seamers-Cuffy, Collymore and Dillon-conceded 118 runs in 30m overs but the rest went for 133 in a mere 20 overs.

Zimbabwe's batting revolved around the gutsy Grant Flower, who produced an outstanding innings which ended just six runs short of what would have been his fifth one-day international century. But his 31st fifty in 158 matches was quite an attractive essay and once again underlined Grant Flower's immense value to the side in the middle-order.

Blessed with superb temperament, Grant Flower played through the innings and set the pace astutely. He chose the best time and an ideal bowler to plunder runs in the latter half when he twice hoisted Mervyn Dillon for brathtaking sixes to midwicket. Those two effortless shots were as good as any played in this series before his third attempt resulted in a catch. It was a selfless show by Grant Flower who gave no thought to the fact that he was so close to a century. His entertaining innings was the sound platform on which Zimbabwe presented the opposition such a fighting target.

Wishart batted within his limitations and gave the right support to Grant Flower. The feature of this partnership was the running between the wickets and some well-placed shots square of the wicket by Wishart. He was instrumental in giving the innings a shape after the early set backs.

Zimbabwe continued to prosper with the arrival of Guy Whittall, whose forte is his improvisation. He created gaps with his well- timed and well-directed shots and built on the tone set by Wishart and Grant Flower. Whittall's straight six off Marlon Samuels was a gem.

In the end, it proved just a little short of what the Zimbabweans required even though there was consolation in Grant Flower being adjudged the `Man of the Match'.

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