THE West Indies return today to the scene of their signal triumph over South Africa in the opening match of the World Cup almost three weeks ago for an even more momentous fixture, bouyed by what captain Carl Hooper describes as his team’s new toughness.
“If there’s one area where we’ve developed, it’s when it comes to the hig games,” he said on the eve of the day- night group match against Sri Lanka at Newlands here that effectively determines wheth-er they advance to the next round, the Super Sixes, or “pack for home”.
“It’s a big night for us and I can sense from the vibes I got from the training session today that we’re very, very positive and I feel confident about it too,” he added.
Hooper noted that the opening night, with the eyes and ears of the world on the match, was a stern test of the team’s character.
They recovered from a faltering start of 67 for two after 25 of the 50 overs to amass 277 for five and then held their nerve in the face of Lance Klusener’s assault to win by three runs.
“I think we responded well on the night and I expect us to respond well again tonight,” he said.
The captain is so certain of his team’s capacity to deal with pressure that he welcomed the clear-cut challenge of the situation.
“We’ve got to face up to the fact that for West Indies cricket to go forward we’ve got to start winning crunch games,” he said. “I never wanted an easy way forward. If we’re not tested
now, we’ll be tested in the next round.”
“This is a must win situation and I’m glad we’re in it,” he added. “If we go all the way, we get into a semi-final where we must win and then into a final where we must win.”
“If there are questions to be answered, I’d rather they be answered now than in the semi-final and final.”
The mathematics are cruelly simple.Victory would push the West Indies from 10 to 14 points with one remaining match, against Kenya that they would be favourites to win. It should be enough to ensure they are one of the six teams in the next round, probably as top of the group and carrying forward all the points earned from victories over fellow qualifiers.
Defeat would leave them with a maximum of 14 points and virtually no hope of going through above Sri Lanka, New Zealand or Kenya.
Sri Lanka, shocked by Kenya in Nairobi last Monday, have 12 points with a tough final fixture against South Africa on Monday. Hooper refused to bemoan the loss of two crucial points in the
abandoned, rained-out match against winless Bangladesh or give thought to another climatic consideration that could be decisive tonight.
In the day-night victories for England over Pakistan at Newlandslast Saturday and for India over England at Kingsmead in Durban onWednesday, the teams batting second were at an undeniable
disadvantage.
They had to deal with a white ball that moved appreciably more inthe evening atmopshere and from the dew-freshened pitch than itdid in clear day-time sunshine.
Andy Caddick and the impressive, 20-year-old James Anderson werethe match-winners for England, the left-armers Ashish Nehra andZaheer Khan for India.
“I’ve played three day-night matches in South Africa so far and intwo the team batting second was at a disadvantage,” herecalled. “But the one we played against South Africa early on in
the tournament, I don’t think it mattered.”
He said conditions then were “just as good, even better” battingat night than during the day but did concede that in England’smatches against Pakistan and India “it definitely looked as if it
did a little more in the evening”.
He reported that there wasn’t much dew on the grass during theteam’s training session under lights on the Newlands outfield onWednesday night and local knowledge is that dew should not be a factor.
Hooper castigated his bowlers for their lack of consistency after Canadian John Davison’s World Cup record hundred blast atCenturion last Sunday but believed this had now “rectified itself”.
“We saw in the Kenya win over Sri Lanka what can happen if you don’t turn up prepared to play cricket from ball one,” he said. “More importantly, this is a game we must win, so I don’t
think there’ll be any room for complacency.”
The quality of the opposition should be enough to see to that. The Sri Lankans have been stung by their defeat by Kenya. As the West Indies did after their similar humbling by the Kenyans in the 1996 World Cup, when they beat Australia in the next match, they can be expected to come back strong.
Led by captain Sanath Jaysuirya with an order of Marvan Attapattu, Hashan Tillekeratne, Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda deSilva, Kumara Sangakkara and Russell Arnold they possess batting as potentially strong as any in the tournament.
Left-arm swinger Chamina Vaas, with an earlier World Cup hat-trick to add to his many accomplishments, and Muttiah Muralitheran, the bent-elbowed wizard of off-spin, are the main bowling threats. The last time the teams met, in the triangular series with
Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka 14 months ago, Sri Lanka had a 2-1 advantage. This time the stakes are huge.
Hooper sees it as a real test for his team. Coming through it could give them the confidence to go all the way to the final.
The teams:
West Indies (expected): Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs, Vasbert Drakes, Merv Dillon and Pedro Collins.