Windies Choke as India Steals Glory

Tue, Apr 23, '02

After much trepidation and uncertainty -- and not a little controversy -- India pulled off their first win in the West Indies in 26 years, and only their third ever in the Caribbean.

Zaheer Khan finished it off, having Cameron Cuffy caught by Sanjay Bangar at gully for 4, and that sparked off the celebrations. Sourav Ganguly kissed the Port-of-Spain turf, and moments later, all the players huddled together to celebrate a rare overseas win.

The Indians believed they had wrapped up the match earlier, but a bizarre decision by third umpire Eddie Nicholls kept them on the field for about 40 minutes longer. Shivnarine Chanderpaul ? who finished up with an unbeaten 67 ? attempted to chop one wide of off stump from Javagal Srinath, seemed to edge it, and Ajay Ratra behind the stumps took a splendid, diving left-handed catch.

Umpire Asoka de Silva referred the decision to the third umpire to check if Chanderpaul had played it into the ground. Replays showed he hadn?t, but after an interminably long delay in which Nicholls watched numerous replays, he pressed the green light. Ganguly fumed and argued with De Silva, but to little avail.

The fifth day?s play itself was as eventful. Like on previous days, the momentum swung from one team to the other. Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle brought West Indies back in the hunt after Brian Lara and Carl Hooper departed early. Just when they appeared to be taking control, three wickets fell for one run as West Indies slumped to 238 for 7. But the last three batsmen then hung around for 24 more overs, before ultimately succumbing.

The tension was palpable when play started this morning, with West Indies requiring 182 to win. Lara faced just one ball ? a quick bouncer from Zaheer ? before signaling to the Trini Posse to stop the music. This was clearly serious stuff.

Fluent in his strokeplay yesterday, Lara was strangely circumspect today, and added just seven to his overnight 40 before nicking one from Ashish Nehra to Rahul Dravid at first slip (157 for 3).

More success was in store for Nehra when, in his next over, Hooper was cramped for space in attempting a pull and holed out to SS Das at short midwicket (164 for 4). The big two had been dismissed within 70 minutes of play this morning and India had reason to believe that they had wrested control of the match.

Not for long though, as Chanderpaul and Gayle began the fightback. Gayle had made just 21 off 88 balls yesterday before retiring hurt, but was far more aggressive today. The Indian bowlers ? Harbhajan, in particular ? gave him plenty of hit-me balls, and Gayle took full toll, as West Indies went into lunch at 210 for 4.

Ganguly took the new ball immediately upon resumption of play, but had to wait nine overs before breaking through, as both batsmen saw off Srinath and Nehra. Ganguly replaced Nehra with Zaheer, and the bowling change worked immediately. Gayle went for an expansive cover-drive but only managed to find Harbhajan at point (237 for 5). Gayle?s 52 included eight fours, most of them powerful drives.

West Indies then self-destructed, as two wickets fell off consecutive balls. Junior Murray was run-out for 1 attempting a non-existent leg-bye, and then Mervyn Dillon was bowled by one that kept low from Srinath (238 for 7).

West Indies looked out of the game then, but the last three batsmen dug in, and with Chanderpaul working away at the other end, they still had an outside chance. Marlon Black survived 23 balls before he fended at a short ball from Srinath and was caught at short leg by Das (254 for 8). Black made only 3, but helped stitch together 16 for the eighth wicket. It was also Srinath?s third wicket, and his second in a marathon 11-over spell with the second new ball.

At tea, West Indies were 263 for 8, but Adam Sanford left fourth ball after the break, castled by Nehra for 1. The Indians would have been eying an early finish, but Cuffy defended resolutely to anything within the line of the stumps. Chanderpaul, meanwhile, brought up his fifty and was farming the strike effectively.

The third-umpire controversy seemed to affect the Indians too ? for about 30 minutes after the incident, the bowlers were flat, as Cuffy negotiated the attack with aplomb. Fortunately for them, Zaheer finished it off.

It would have been an expecially sweet victory for VVS Laxman, who was declared Man of the Match ? his first since his Kolkata performance in 2001 - for his two half-centuries. For West Indies, it was another disappointment at Port-of-Spain after their 62-run loss to South Africa last year.

* SOURCE: Wisden Online.

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