Two words which describe insanity are “foolishness” and “madness”.
And what about the timing of the act? Ask Shannon Gabriel, the big West Indies fast bowler and rank No. 11 batsman.
With seven balls remaining in the third and final Test against Pakistan at Windsor Park in Dominica last Sunday and survival being the password as fielders clustered around the bat, Gabriel lost his composure and essayed a slog off leg-spinner Yasir Shah.
The ball took the inside edge and bowled him to give Pakistan a 101-run win. More telling was a 2-1 success for Mibah-ul-Haq’s team, which meant that Pakistan had won a Test series in the Caribbean for the first time since their inaugural tour in 1958.
It was a most painful moment for the West Indies team and their supporters. After all, until then, Gabriel had kept a fairly cool head, having faced 21 balls in partnership with Roston Chase, who hit his second century of the series and third in ten Tests – an unbeaten 101.
Set a victory target of 304 and starting the final day on seven for one, West Indies knew their main goal was to battle for a draw.
After slipping to 93 for six in the 44th over when Shane Dowrich was controversially given out caught at short-leg by Babar Azam off Yasir, it was generally felt that Pakistan would probably go on to win easily.
But the efforts of Chase, who batted all told for 366 minutes, faced 239 balls and struck 12 fours and one six, along with support from captain Jason Holder, Devendra Bishoo, Alzarri Joseph and Gabriel, kept interest in the match alive until that crazy stroke from Gabriel.
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