Tony Becca
A victory with three wickets and 2.4 overs to spare in a one-day match is a huge margin.
That was the difference between the West Indies and Australia in the DLF Tri Nations one-day match in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, and in normal circumstances, the West Indies should be satisfied with such a performance - and especially so with the batting of Christopher Gayle and Brian Lara, and to an extent, also that of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo.
Remembering the many times the West Indies have collapsed and lost when they appeared on the way to winning, however, remembering that the West Indies lost nine wickets for 29 runs in the first match against Australia, and that last year at Kensington Oval when they were looking one run to level the score against South Africa with three wickets in hand, they lost all three wickets in three deliveries and lost the match by one run, as brilliantly as Gayle and Lara batted yesterday, as sensibly as Bravo played towards the end, the West Indies should hardly be satisfied with the victory - even though it was against World Cup champions Australia who are also the number one ranked team in the world.
The reason why they should not be satisfied is that after looking all over the winners, there was a hiccup towards the end as the West Indies, sailing along at 242 for three in the 43rd over and looking 272 for victory, lost four wickets for 13 runs in 3.2 overs, dropped to 255 for seven, and just scrambled home in the nick of time.
Stubborn Ian Bradshaw
Although the stubborn Ian Bradshaw was one of the two batsmen to come, one can never tell, not with this West Indies team, what would have happened had Bravo or Carlton Baugh been dismissed with 15 or 10 runs to get.
As they say, however, all is well that ends well, the West Indies did win the match, and in the process they have notched up nine points and have qualified for a place in the final with one match to go.
With Australia on seven points and India on two, with India to play the West Indies and Australia, it now means that India will have to win both matches to qualify for the final - to join the West Indies in the final.
Up to losing those four wickets towards the end, the West Indies, but for the failure of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, were at their glorious best with Gayle, seven fours and three sixes, blasting 79 off 93 deliveries after scoring his first 13 runs off 33 deliveries and with Lara smashing 87, 11 fours and one six, off 80 deliveries.
With Sarwan stroking five fours while scoring 25 off 31 deliveries, with Bravo scoring 37 not out and smashing a six towards the end, it was vintage West Indies batting, it was one-day batting at its best, and as captain Lara said afterwards, the hope is that they will bat as well in the final.
His hopes
My hope is that they will bat as well, if not all the time, most of the time, or more times than not. That, after all, is what is expected of a batting line-up that includes the likes of Gayle and Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Lara and Bravo, Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith plus wicketkeeper Baugh.
For Australia, acting captain Michael Hussey scored 109 not out off 90 deliveries with 10 fours and three sixes, wicket-keeper Brad Haddin scored 70 off deliveries with three fours and four sixes. Together they posted 165 runs in 24 overs for the sixth wicket, and they batted well, very well.
After scoring only 30 runs for the loss of one wicket in the first 10 overs, however, the West Indies went to town with Gayle and Sarwan smashing 57 runs off the next five overs and with Gayle and Lara blasting 151 off 19.3 overs for the third wicket.
It was a partnership in which they traded shots at times with Lara reeling off some delicate well-timed strokes mostly through the offside, with Gayle clobbering the bowlers to all parts of the ground, and with one man, pacer Stuart Clarke whose seven overs cost him 87 runs, suffering most - his first two overs costing 38 runs.
It was a partnership that demonstrated that at their best, the West Indies are dangerous in one-day cricket - really dangerous.
