da leao： It hasn’t been often of late that an opposing captain has acknowledgedhis team was beaten batting, bowling and fielding by the West Indies
da casino： Tony Cozier24-Jun-2001It hasn’t been often of late that an opposing captain has acknowledgedhis team was beaten batting, bowling and fielding by the West Indies.They was how Zimbabwe’s Grant Flower put it after the Lara-less WestIndies had overcome their shocking build-up form and the suddenabsence of their unpredictable superstar to comfortably win the firstmatch in the triangular Coca-Cola Cup on a day of bright, cloudlesssunshine here yesterday.Announcing his withdrawal from the tour on Friday, Lara charged theyoung batsmen to use the chance to establish themselves. They took himat his word.Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga overcame some anxious early moments topost an opening stand of 113 in the first half of the innings that wasthe platform for an eventual total of 266 off the set 50 overs.Wavell Hinds, who would not have played at all had Lara not pulledout, provided the necessary momentum with urgent running between thewickets and several thumping strokes in 37 from 44 balls at No.3.When the two remaining stalwarts of the batting came together, theWest Indies were already 180 for three with 18-and-a-half overs left.Captain Carl Hooper and especially Shivnarine Chanderpaul applied thefinishing touches with a partnership of 62 from nine overs.Chanderpaul’s 51 from 46 balls, with a six and three fours and severalimprovised strokes, was just the finale required, leaving the hometeam a demanding target.They never had it in sight.They lost opener Dion Ebrahim and Stuart Carlisle by the 12th over for44 to two stunning catches and could make little headway againstCameron Cuffy who smothered them with another opening burst of tenimpeccable overs that cost 20.He later added a smart run-out from the outfield and earned the Man ofthe Match award, as he had done against South Africa in front of hishome crowd at Arnos Vale, St Vincent, last month Wicket-keeper RidleyJacobs flew high to his right to snare a spectacular right-handed taketo remove Ebrahim off Reon King’s bouncing outswinger.Hooper matched it six overs later with a tumbling, two-handed catch atshort extra-cover from the dangerous Stuart Carlisle off Merv Dillon.When Andy Blignaut, a belligerent left-hander promoted in an effort tolift the flagging scoring rate, was run out by Cuffy’s swooping,right-handed pickup and laser-point return to Jacobs for 25 from 26balls, the result was all but decided.Any victory these days is welcome for the West Indies and this waseven more so in view of Lara’s departure last night and the heavy lossto the aging Country Districts team on Wednesday.As satisfying as it was, it needs to be put into proper perspective.The loss of Andy Flower, after an incredible, unbroken sequence of 72Tests and 172 One-Day Internationals, weakened Zimbabwe every bit asmuch as Lara’s did the West Indies. To compound matters, Heath Streak,who had led them since last September, gave up the captaincy justbefore play, reportedly over the selection of the XI in which he hadno say.Grant Flower, Andy’s brother, found himself thrust into the positionbut admitted afterwards there were problems within the team. His firstact as skipper was to win the toss and bowl. He would have expected atleast an early wicket or three for his decision but had to wait untilthe 25th over for his first.Gayle, the tall, 21-year-old left-hander, and right-handed Ganga, 22,got through a testing period against the swing of Streak and AndyBlignaut to raise the highest West Indies opening stand since SherwinCampbell and Ridley Jacobs put on 111 against New Zealand in Aucklandin January, 2000.Gayle, inclined to the backfoot as always, escaped a chance to secondslip off Blignaut when 14 but still thumped seven boundaries, mostlythrough the off-side, in 53 off 76 balls before he chipped the legspinner Brian Murphy to long-on.Ganga was even less secure than Gayle early on but became increasinglyconfident. He had 66 to his name, from 98 balls with five fours, whenhe inexplicably charged down the pitch at Murphy and was swiftlystumped by Tatenda Taibu, Andy Flower’s diminutive, 18-year-oldreplacement who looks a natural.By then, Hinds had helped him add 58 from 10 overs and had shaken upthe Zimbabweans with his rapid running between the wickets.It eventually cost Hinds his hand.
