Windies Answer the Bell
Mon, Dec 1, '03
The West Indies ended their tour of Zimbabwe on a resonant note, completing a double series win following their victory in the test series. Resounding back-to-back wins on the weekend saw the Caribbean side coming from behind to clinch the best of five series by three to games to two.
In Saturday's do or die game the visitors were sent into bat by Heath Streak and got off to a flyer via the Jamaican opening pair of Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds, and never eased up on the accelerator, scoring an imposing 256-3 off just 45 overs when rain interrupted play.
Hinds was unbeaten on 127, and Ramnaresh Sarwan with whom he shared a 107-run third wicket partnership ably supported him with 47. Earlier it Was Chris Gayle who started the brutal assault on the Zimbabweans, blasting his way to a half century off just 30 balls with 3 sixes and 7 fours. He meted out equal treatment to the bowlers; Streak and Blignaut were lofted for massive sixes as the left-hander blazed away. He fell for 51 runs, but the incoming batsmen capitalized on the damaging effects.
Brian Lara went 30 runs later for 14 and then an out of form Sarwan came to the wicket. He got his confidence back with a huge six and kept up the momentum that the openers had started. Wavell remained at the end, having scored his fourth One Day International century and Plundering 17 in the last over of the innings. By the time the rain intervened they were firmly in control and it was always going to be tough for Zimbabwe to stay in the match.
The Duckworth Lewis method saw the total revised to 223 runs from 32 overs, which meant the asking rate was going to be even higher than it previously was. They were in terrible trouble from the second over when young Fidel Edwards in his debut match, uprooted the middle stump of Barney Rogers with his very first delivery. Edwards went on to claim 6 wickets for 22 runs with an awesome opening spell of 5-1-10-5.
It was a one-sided affair from thereon in and any chance Zimbabwe had of escaping defeat went out the window after 25 overs were completed. Only rain could have saved them and they stumbled along to 150 for 7 off their 32 overs, giving the West Indies victory by 72 runs.
The stage was set for an exciting Sunday Final and the fans in the Caribbean hoped their team would show up in a similarly fervent mood. They did not disappoint in the least, trouncing Zimbabwe by an impressive 8 wickets in true Calypso style. Man of the match and series Chris Gayle, was the pick of the bowlers and batsmen.
After Streak won the toss and decided to bat, Zimbabwe were cruising along at 107 for 2 and scoring at close to 5 per over. Dillon and been the wicket taker and the other wicket was courtesy of a brilliant run out by Ricardo Powell. The visitors then applied the brakes in the form of Chris Gayle who struck three deadly blows in the space of a few overs. He ended up with impressive figures of 10-1-24-4 as Zimbabwe capitulated for 196 all out off 47.5 overs.
The West Indies needed just 197 for victory needing to score at under four per over and the fans back home eagerly hoped they would complete the job. Chris Gayle picked up right where he had left off the previous day with the bat. It seemed as if he had slept with his bat and his jersey on because he was again in a lethal mood and every bowler felt his fury. He finished unbeaten on 112 while Wavell Hinds scored 13 in a 43-run opening partnership.
However, the massacre got going when Brian Lara came to the wicket. It is not often that the West Indies captain has had to play spectator from the non-striker's end, but he had to watch like everyone else, as Chris Gayle wielded his destructive bat. When the pair brought up their 100 partnership Gayle's contribution was double that of Lara's. The captain continued to feed the opener the strike allowing him to motor on towards his century, which he posted off just 69 balls with 16 fours and 2 sixes.
Lara reserved some special treatment for the off-spinner Price, lofting him for two massive sixes in consecutive balls. His 41 was made at almost a run a ball, with 5 fours and 2 sixes. They were romping towards the total when Lara fell to Ervine, bowled after giving himself a bit too much room to make his shot. The left-handed pair, who had starred in the first victory in match one, had taken the score from 43 to 180 runs in a mere 15.9 overs.
Ricardo Powell joined the party with them needing 17 runs for victory and blasted 12 with three boundaries, completing the icing on the cake in just 25.4 overs.
The West Indies undoubtedly showed their class in the last two matches and wrapped up their tour of Zimbabwe in fine style. They depart Harare on December first for South Africa where they will play four Tests and five One Day Internationals with the first Test on December 12 and the last ODI on February 4, 2004.