Sport - Cricket

West Indies off to a quiet start

By Vijay Lokapally

PREMATURE CELEBRATIONS: Indians Rahul Dravid, Ajay Ratra rush in to join Javagal Srinath and S.S. Das after they thought that Chris Gayle was caught behind on day one of the final Test against West Indies at Kingston on Saturday. But umpire David Shepherd negated the appeal. — Photo: V.V. Krishnan

KINGSTON MAY 18 . The pitch attracted all the attention even as the Sabina Park filled up in

anticipation of some fireworks on the first morning of the fifth and final Test of the series. The first hour was bound to be crucial and the expectations were understandable as the curator had worked hard on the playing surface.

Four years ago, the Sabina Park was subject to humiliation when a Test match was called off after an hour's play because the conditions proved dangerous to the batsmen. The under-prepared pitch saw the ball flying and climbing at the throat of the batsmen and it was hardly surprising when the umpires called off play in the interest of the batsman's safety.

So, when the teams were greeted by a grassy surface on the eve of the match there was apprehension regarding the behaviour of the pitch. The curator, Charles Joseph, had prepared a hard and firm track which came in for appreciation for the simple fact that the last Test at Antigua had produced poor cricket despite the high scoring in that match. It was a pitch which was going to be a true test of character, testing the survival skills of the batsmen and obviously the bowlers too.

At the end of the first hour, West Indies, put in, was 26 for no loss with Chris Gayle (11) and Wavell Hinds (14) at the crease.

The pitch at the Sabina Park was never greener than the one this morning. It was made known that no shaving of the grass was to be encouraged by the curator. The grass and early moisture was going to make survival tough for the batsmen and soon Gayle and Hinds discovered that they would have to be at the best to see the opening hour through.

Javagal Srinath wore a big smile on the eve of the match when he repeatedly looked at the pitch. Here was a surface which was to his liking and it was not up to the veteran fast bowler to make the most of it. The only concern was concerning the line and length of the Indian seamers. The excitement in the Indian ranks on Sourav Ganguly winning the toss was understandable. It

gave the Indians the first use of a pitch which had created such a storm even before the first ball had been bowled.

There was lot of `carry' as Srinath and Ashish Nehra worked hard to generate pace. The bounce was quite encouraging too as they probed the batsmen on and outside the off-stump but Gayle and Hinds too were up to the task with a very watchful and sensible approach.

It was a new experience for the West Indies openers as the Indian seamers let the ball go. There was lot of hope in the Indian dressing room since Srinath had promised so much on this tour at the start and this being his final match of the series the expectation from him had grown manifold

essentially because of the helpful nature of the pitch. It was a lovely sight as the ball thudded into the gloves of wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra but Ganguly would have preferred a wicket in the early part to snatch an early initiative in this decisive battle for the series honours. The batsmen had to concentrate fiercely and were compelled to play on the backfoot once Srinath found his rhythm. Nehra tended to stray but Srinath attacked the batsmen, using his experience to try and rattle the West Indian openers.

Credit to Gayle and Hinds for batting within their limitations and curbing their desire to play a few shots square of the wicket. Srinath and Nehra managed to find the edge on one occasion each but that was the closest they came to claiming a wicket. The first authentic stroke of the morning came

from Gayle when he clipped Zaheer Khan for an encouraging boundary. And then a misfield by point gave him another boundary off Srinath as Gayle punched the ball effortlessly.

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