Shiv: The Ball Was Standing Up Nicely
West Indies opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who scored a half century against South Africa, fielded questions after the team's victory in the semi final of the ICC Champions Trophy. Following are excerpts from his responses:
On what the game plan was in chasing 258:
Our plan was to have a look and see what was happening out in the middle. We noticed the ball was just standing up nicely on the wicket and not much was happening for the bowler so we decided that we were going to play some shots and try to set up a good foundation for the rest of the guys if we didn't carry through.
When you see a couple of balls pass you and you play a couple of balls off the middle of the bat, that's enough to know what the wicket is like. You have at the back of your mind that the ball is still new and you want to see it off a bit but you also have to cash in during the power play period.
On Chris Gayle?s innings:
He batted extremely well, I hope he keeps on batting the same way. Chris is such a good batter. He is one of the guys who you want to bat through the innings because if he bats through you know you can win the game easy.
On the South African total of 258:
South Africa worked hard as a team to get to 258, it was never an easy total to chase. It was a gettable total, once they made it we knew we could have gotten it, we just needed to lay a foundation at the top of the order and set it up nicely for the other guys coming in.
We needed to ensure that we did not lose too many wickets early on and once we ensured that their strike bowlers did not take wickets then that put them on the back foot. Once you get in as a batsman you could get runs, that?s what happened today. I got a start and I was able to get a little runs in the middle.
On having to retiring hurt after suffering cramps in both legs:
I was very disappointed I had to retire. I was planning so hard for the periods when the other power plays would be enforced but unfortunately I could not continue. I started to struggle somewhere in the 30s, both of my legs were giving me trouble, I wanted to bat through but I was really struggling and I wasn?t doing any good for the team or myself so I decided it didn?t make any sense to go on anymore.
On how he is feeling after treatment:
My legs are still pretty sore but we have a couple of days and I will continue get treatment and hopefully I'll get better. I expect to get fit and ready for the finals in Mumbai on Sunday.
On facing Australia in the finals:
It's the second time we are meeting Australia in a finals and hopefully this time we will come out on top. We are defending champions but we still came down here as underdogs, having to play qualifying rounds and all that. To get this far is a big achievement for us and we want to go on to lift the trophy.