CENTURION, South Africa, (CMC) - In an awsome batting display that made a mockery of what had gone before in the first three matches, West Indies achieved the highest victory target ever at SuperSport Park to win the fourth One-day International against South Africa by seven wickets yesterday and so keep the series alive going into Wednesday’s final match in Johannesburg.
Seeming to be out of the running after undisciplined bowling hastened the home team’s progress to a formidable 297 for four batting first, the Caribbean side’s top batsmen revelled in the ideal batting conditions, pulling the series back to 2-1 as the winning runs were hit by Brian Lara with fully five overs to spare.
Having struggled under lights in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban, it was the pair of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan who paved the way for the captain's final flourish as they were in their element in the glorious afternoon sunshine of the all-day duel that left the capacity crowd of almost 18 000 in stunned silence when it was all over.
Chanderpaul, the man-of-the-match, was at his most pugnacious and determined, racing to 92 off just 75 balls to keep West Indies firmly on the road to the upset after Chris Gayle and Ricardo Powell had established the frenetic tempo of the innings in successive partnerships with the phlegmatic Guyanese.
But it was his stand with compatriot Sarwan that rendered the result as close to a formality as the West Indies have enjoyed in any match played away from home in recent years.
Their third-wicket stand of 108 - a new West Indian record against South Africa in ODIs - occupied just 19 overs in which their strokeplay was always positive and fluent.
For once, the indecision of running between the wickets had been replaced by composed assurance, and it was only a lazy dab outside the off-stump by Chanderpaul in Shaun Pollock’s first over of a new spell that denied him a second ODI century against these tough opponents. His pulling and driving over the infield were imperious, earning him most of his ten boundaries, while two sixes -- over long-leg and mid-wicket -- were the icing on the cake.
On the same ground where he scored a hundred in the last Test of the series two weeks earlier, Sarwan was denied another century only because West Indies could not afford to have their vice-captain play selfishly for the personal goal, nor did he seem so inclined.
His unbeaten 77 came off 102 deliveries and included just six fours, emphasising the maturity with which he played throughout. Lara's 37-ball knock of 59 not out (six fours, one six) justified his decision to remain at number five in the order.
“It was important for someone in the top three to bat through. Shiv did that today,” he said as he enjoyed his team’s first victory over South Africa on this tour.
“With my experience, I know I can handle things down at the end. Things haven’t gone well for us on this tour, but I hope we can keep it going in the final match on Wednesday.”
The result soured Graeme Smith’s 23rd birthday and the South African captain suggested that as well as the West Indies played, his team fell short in vital areas.
“We were not as precise as we normally are,” he observed, still absorbing the shock of the comprehensive manner of the defeat. “We need to look at ourselves ahead of the game at The Wanderers.”
Yet all was going well for the home team in the morning as Smith’s 46, a quick-fire 36 from Robin Peterson and 30 from Boeta Dippenaar set the stage for an unbroken 107-run fifth-wicket partnership between Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusener.
Coming together in the 36th over with the score at 190 for four, the pair proceeded to plunder an attack that aided and abetted the opponents with 12 no-balls and 14 wides.
Off-spinner Ryan Hurley delivered an astonishing six no-balls in conceding 65 runs off his ten overs, a performance that puts his place in jeopardy for the final match in two days time.
Kallis finished with an unbeaten 95 - five runs short of a sixth century against the West Indies this season - off 97 balls with seven fours and two sixes, while Klusener’s 41 not out was relatively subdued by his spectacular standards as it came off 38 balls with only two fours and one six.
The task seemed beyond the West Indies even after Gayle’s hasty 26 and Powell’s stroke-filled 34. The pair took a particular liking to Andre Nel, who conceded 38 runs off his first three overs. The giant pacer returned later in the innings, but by then the visitors were well on their way with Lara exacting a measure of revenge for Nel’s dismissal of him twice on the same day of the fourth Test.
He smashed a succession of boundaries and then added insult to injury by getting the winning runs via an inside-edge past his leg-stump to the boundary as they finished an imposing 300 for three.
After being shot out for 54 a week earlier at Newlands, and falling short of a victory target of 180 in Port Elizabeth, Lara was entitled to believe that he and his team were due for a good day. He could never have anticipated however that it would have been so satisfying and so emphatic.