Batting still a problem for West Indies
By Orin Davidson in Barbados
Stabroek News
April 20, 2007
Even if the points table were reversed with West Indies positioned at the top instead of being among the basement stragglers, the team's management would still have reason for worry despite an emphatic victory yesterday at Kensington Oval.
The result had no bearing on the World Cup semi-finals, but the opposition was Bangladesh and despite having the best batting conditions so far, the onslaught of runs never happened.
Instead, the malaise that condemned the competition's host team to early elimination, was evident again yesterday, instead of improvement against weak opposition.
In managing a meagre 230 runs in 50 overs West Indies' batsmen made heavy weather of a game their bowlers had to polish off at the end.
Daren Powell was profusely apologetic for the team's lamentable display on Wednesday and he showed he meant his words by rocking Bangladesh to set up a victory that came four matches too late.
He revelled on a good cricket pitch where the pace was good and the bounce predictable as has been the case in each of Kensington's five games so far.
His three wickets for 28 runs was well supported by Corey Collymore 2-11 and Dwayne Bravo and Chris Gayle 2-28 each.
West Indies eventually posted a 99-run victory that did not seem likely to end by as comfortable a margin after Bangladesh won the toss and inserted them.
It was a batting performance which typified West Indies' wobbly displays throughout the World Cup.
Poor enough even against one of the least threatening until Sarwan and Lara made it look like the one Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England and even Ireland plundered runs off.
The loss of two early wickets threw Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels into a fright. They pottered about, unable to get the ball off the square, without showing the courage to launch seven seldom attacks during the power plays.
Chanderpaul added another half century to his statistics, but to require 85 balls to make 50 off Bangladesh is well below the capabilities of the former West Indies' captain.
Samuels also made life difficult for himself in taking 66 balls for 31.
Chris Gayle had another game he would like to forget fast in a disappointing sequence that must cause intense worry to the team's management.
His weakness is becoming obvious to the world and even Bangladesh has learnt to work him out. India and Pakistan made him pay for his sluggish footwork last year and Bangladesh has cottoned on.
Just pitch it up on off stump and bend it in a wee bit and Bingo.
Gayle got out yesterday in as much the same manner that has reduced him from being every opposing team's tornado to a batsman in turmoil.
It was West Indies first game at Kensington Oval but it seems the batsmen were hardly paying attention to the other games where the pitch is much faster than anything they would've encountered at Providence, Queens Park or the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Apart from Gayle's dismissal, Devon Smith wasted his chance to threaten for the former's opening spot, after being sent packing, being late on a good yorker And then came that frustrating period when Chanderpaul and Samuels never gave the impression they knew it was okay to play through the line.
Scoring at less than two runs an over after 11 overs was painful for many of their ardent supporters. It nevertheless was proved that West Indies are lucky to have one of the most sympathetic set of supporters around. Despite being eliminated at a stage when it really mattered in the competition, the Region is hosting, the Kensington crowd showed up in huge numbers yesterday and erupted at every solitary boundary scored early on.
England were booed when they lost to a superior team, but the crowd yesterday never got antsy with their batsmen's struggles against minnows Bangladesh.
Not that the presence of famed Regional entertainers Gravy and Mac Fingall and their band of merry makers lifted the spirits; it was a crowd genuinely giving its team unequivocal support.
When Lara eventually showed up, it begged the question of his reluctance to bat higher in the order. This time he demoted himself further down to number six and gave the innings the type of impetus with his cameo 34-ball 33 that would've made life easier for his less accomplished men in the order, were it done at number three.
Sarwan showed that when the going gets tough he has the stomach for a battle. His unbeaten 91 scored in 110 balls proved he was not prepared to get bogged down as the earlier batsmen. It was a follow up on the 92 he made against South Africa in that crunch battle last week.
Once again Sarwan proved he is still a valuable component in the top order.
The time may soon come when his batting alone will not be his main contribution to the team as the career retirement of captain Lara should open another window of opportunity for the Guyanese.