Lara shines before the rain has its say
The Wisden Bulletin by John Ward
West Indies won the opening one-day international against Zimbabwe by 51 runs in a rain-affected match at Bulawayo. Chris Gayle scored a one-day best of 153 not out, and he put on an electrifying 176 with Brian Lara, who smashed 113 off 82. West Indies made an imposing 347 for 6 and, in their reply, Zimbabwe had reached 173 for 3 from 34.5 overs before the heavens opened and brought an early end to the contest.
There is not much any bowling attack in the world can do when Lara is at the top of his form, and Zimbabwe's hard working, but limited, resources had little chance of keeping him quiet.
The word Bulawayo means 'place of slaughter', and that was exactly what it was for the bowlers, as Lara tore them to shreds as he moved from 50 to 100 in only 24 balls. Zimbabwe did not bowl badly, and at times they did bowl well, but they were nothing more than cannon-fodder for Lara.
Lara came in on the back of a sound opening partnership of 77 in 16.5 overs between Gayle and Wavell Hinds after West Indies won the toss on a superb batting pitch with a fast outfield. Lara's innings overshadowed another fine century, by Gayle, who has not had much success so far on this tour.
Gayle began cautiously, but gradually opened up to dominate the opening partnership. Heath Streak and Andy Blignaut, Zimbabwe's opening bowlers, managed to keep the brakes on without looking dangerous, and they were backed up by some excellent fielding, with Vusi Sibanda in particular distinguishing himself.
Astute field placings also forced the West Indian openers to work hard for their runs, but they had maintained a rate of more than four an over when the first wicket fell, as Hinds (28) flashed outside the off stump to Blignaut and edged a straightforward catch to Tatenda Taibu (77 for 1).
Lara soon left his stamp with two superb boundaries through extra cover. He was in awesome form, and after passing fifty he unleashed the full range of his repertoire, with his cover-drives and fierce pulls being the most memorable shots. It was his 18th one-day century and it took a brilliant run-out to remove him - he attempted a quick single to mid-on and Gary Brent pounced on the ball and threw down the stumps (253 for 2).
Then there was a flurry of activity as a fine throw from the covers by Streak removed Ramnaresh Sarwan without him having faced a ball (289 for 5). Shivnarine Chanderpaul was lbw sweeping at Sean Ervine for 8 (282 for 4) and then Marlon Samuels, after hitting his first ball for six, went down the pitch to Stuart Matsikenyeri and was bowled off his pads (289 for 5). Ricardo Powell played a cameo innings, scoring 17 off eight balls, before driving Streak to Sibanda at long-on (328 for 6).
Gayle stayed until the end, taking a two off the final ball to reach 153, the highest of his six one-day centuries. He faced 160 balls and hit 19 fours and two sixes. The nearest he came to giving a chance was when he skied a ball just clear of the covers when on 76. The only time he and Lara had any trouble was when Streak returned to reverse-swing the old ball, but they handled it the easy way - by complaining to the umpires that they couldn't see the ball and having it changed.
Sibanda and Trevor Gripper began Zimbabwe's reply with some good running between the wickets, but the possibility of rain soon persuaded Lara to bring on his spinners to hustle through the overs.
Sibanda and Gripper put on 40 before Gripper (16) drove Gayle, only for Lara, running from mid-off, to get a hand to the ball and catch the rebound. Incredibly, Zimbabwe lost another wicket the very next ball when Mark Vermeulen edged the ball low to slip, where Chanderpaul juggled the ball and finally held it.
Sibanda, on his one-day debut, played some classic strokes, though, and Craig Wishart settled in well. They shared a stand of 110 in 21 overs, with Sibanda just beating Wishart to his fifty. He was out for 58, though, checking a cut and lobbing a catch to backward point off Vasbert Drakes (150 for 3).
Blignaut came in next, but the rain soon followed. Two attempts were made to restart, but light showers kept intervening, and the match was eventually called off. West Indies won handsomely, thanks to batting of the highest class, but Zimbabwe at least went down fighting.
Wishart finished unbeaten on 72, and the wonder remains why such class shines so intermittently. There was a joyful crowd of several thousand who provided a wonderful atmosphere, and most of them stayed in hope until the end.
Zimbabwe v. West Indies - ODI series
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couragous cloke
- Posts: 2015
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couragous cloke
- Posts: 2015
- Joined: Sat Sep 07, 2002 6:01 pm
- Location: melbourne, victoria, australia
