Pakistan's bowlers held their nerve to seize a 56-run win over West Indies after an intense, attritional fifth day in Dubai, in which Darren Bravo led his side's plucky tilt at a come-from-behind victory. Bravo scored a 249-ball 116, taking his side to within 83 runs of the target, before Pakistan finally overcame his dogged resistance to wrest back a match that had looked like slipping away. They wrapped it up with 12 overs remaining, to register a memorable win in their 400th Test.
For much of the final day, Bravo proved to be an immovable object at the centre of the Dubai cricket ground. He carried forward his fine form and doughty resistance from the first innings, showing the application and patience to rebuff whatever Pakistan threw at him. His forward defensive shots, of which there were many, were perfectly middled, and he was equally convincing when leaving the ball. On occasion, he unfurled one of his crisp drives or cuts to the off-side boundary, but his knock was more about grit than flair.
Bravo began the day batting on 26 off 67, with West Indies on 95 for 2, still 251 runs short of their target. After seeing Marlon Samuels depart off the first ball of the day and losing Jermaine Blackwood inside the first hour, Bravo shared a fighting 77-run fifth-wicket stand with Roston Chase and continued his vigil well after Chase departed. As West Indies pursued what would have been their second-highest successful chase, more and more came to depend on Bravo. He shouldered that burden until almost an hour into the final session. But with 83 runs to win and four wickets in hand, he played a tired drive off Yasir Shah, managing only to squirt the ball back towards the bowler, whose sensational diving catch was the last, decisive turn on a gripping final day.
Skipper Stafanie Taylor produced a magnificent all-round performance and led the West Indies Women team to a heart-warming and fighting 42-run victory over their English counterparts,in the Fourth ODI contested at Sabina Park, Jamaica,yesterday.Taylor led by example and batted with great patience and skilful execution as she led West Indies to the highest score of the series- 223 for 6 in 50 overs.And despite a troubled left leg when she suffered cramps while batting, Taylor rose to the challenge and registered probably the greatest all-round performance ever seen in Women’s ODIs. She topscored with 84, then grabbed three wickets (3 for 22) and took two catches off her own bowling.Additionally, Taylor featured in two of the five run outs when England were restricted to 181 all out in 44.2 overs and allowed the West Indian team to celebrate an impressive victory over their much-highly rated rivals.Taylor deservedly was voted “Player of the Match” for her sterling contributions with both bat and ball.
DINANATH Ramnarine and his team are considering legal action in an effort to change the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) constitution, as they prepare to challenge the Azim Bassarath-led administration at the TTCB elections on Saturday.
It will be difficult to make changes to the constitutiuon with the elections just days away, but Ramnarine and his team are hoping they can make constitutional changes if voted into power on Saturday. Ramnarine is vying to become president of the TTCB and prevent Bassarath from being elected for a third consecutive term. Yesterday at a symposium called “Democracy, Transparency and Good Governance __ For the Love of the Game” at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation, Ramnarine stated there are many options they can take to bring about changes in the constitution. Ramnarine stated, “we have been having private meetings with the key stakeholders and I think this the last phase of the meetings in terms of listening to what the key stakeholders have to say and how we should go forward. There are many options available to us (to change the constitution), one of them would be to go to the Annual General Meeting and continue to appeal to people.” He added, “the other option we are considering is whether in fact we look at the legal route and that’s obviously something that we are considering, again these are some of the things that we are discussing with the key stakeholders.” Attorney-at-law Christophe Brathwaithe said this country should follow other countries in developing a code of good governance.
A 16-wicket day brought the Dubai day-night Test to life as Pakistan's 400th Test swung one way and then the other. After Yasir Shah's three wickets - which brought him a five-wicket haul and his 100th Test scalp - helped Pakistan secure a 222-run first-innings lead, Devendra Bishoo hit back with a career-best 8 for 49 to skittle Pakistan for 123 and leave West Indies with an outside chance of victory.
West Indies lost Kraigg Brathwaite early in their chase of 346, before Leon Johnson and Darren Bravo shared a 60-run stand to lift the team. But Johnson's late dismissal and Marlon Samuels' early struggles against the legspin of Yasir served a reminder that West Indies still had an uphill task on the final day.
Having declined to impose the follow-on, Pakistan chased quick runs and lost two early wickets before tea. Sami Aslam and Babar Azam added 57 off 70 balls after the interval to steady the innings and swiftly build the lead. But Bishoo then benefitted from some ambitious shots, and some good, spinning deliveries to rip through Pakistan, taking seven of the eight wickets that fell either side of the dinner break.
Mixing the bitter with the sweet can be very hilarious.
Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that I would be such a “champion” in writing about Dwayne Bravo in last week’s column.
So as a fellow Libran, I am inviting the chirpy Trinidad & Tobago and West Indies all-rounder to add a couple verses to his popular song with the words – Keith Holder a champion, Stephon Nicholas a champion, Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) a champion, along with all of those who either praised or blasted me on the various websites and social media.
In my opinion, Sports Editor Stephon Nicholas wrote the most interesting story in the Trinidad & Tobago Newsday on October 11, under the headline “Just Play Ball”.
I quote: “Over the weekend, the TTCB sent out an email under the heading “Big Bird Slams Bravo” which carried a link to a story published in Barbados TODAY entitled: ‘Time to move on from the Dwayne Bravos’.
“The article, written by Keith Holder, criticised Bravo for leading “a pull-out midway through the tour of India over player-payment issues” but fails to mention that the very Task Force commissioned by the WICB to investigate the circumstances surrounding the scandalous incident in October 2014 found the WICB and West Indies Players Association (WIPA) principally culpable for what transpired and not the players.
