The hits, misses and noteworthy achievements of the match between West Indies and New Zealand
Andrew Miller in Antigua29-Mar-2007
Chris Gayle began to cut loose but perished for 44 © AFP
Duplicitous team selection of the Day Part 1
“It’s a batsman’s paradise,” declared Brian Lara after yesterday’sdefeat against Australia. Few entirely concurred with him, but evenfewer could believe what a dramatic volte-face he would pullovernight. Far from backing the batsmen who had let him down the daybefore, he instead chastised them by drafting in an extra man in LendlSimmons, who contributed 14 not out from 26 balls, and faced just onedelivery as the last three wickets tumbled.Duplicitous team selection of the Day Part 2
Simmons did not, of course, just waltz into the side unchallenged.Someone had to be the fall guy and that honour went to Jerome Taylor,the quickest man in the attack (and consequently, you might havethought, the best suited to overcoming the easy-paced conditions). Butit got crazier. In Taylor’s absence, the new ball was flung to DwayneSmith, whose medium-pacers weren’t even called upon against Australia.”Maybe we have too many bowlers,” Lara had shrugged when quizzed aboutSmith’s lack of use against the Aussies. Nobody for one minuteimagined that could possibly have constituted a weakness.Flaccid dismissal of the Day
Once again there were almost too many to choose from, but this timethe honour goes to Smith whose demotion to No. 9 in the order wasfully justified by hindsight. A second-ball slog went spiralling overmidwicket, but just four deliveries later he was gone to the mostatrociously-mistimed sweep since Sooty lost his autocue.Catch of the Day
It wasn’t just a tale of West Indian ineptitude, however. New Zealandwere full value for their victory because they played the sort ofcricket that deserves to win matches. Take the wicketkeeper BrendonMcCullum for instance, whose one-handed pluck off Ramnaresh Sarwan’sinside-edge was a moment of genuine brilliance. His weight was alreadytransferring to the off-side, but he braced, buckled, sprung andstretched to shift his momentum in the opposite direction and clung onat full stretch with his weaker left hand.
Dwayne Smith was gone to the most atrociously-mistimed sweep since Sooty lost his autocue © AFP
Run-out of the Day
Sprinting, bending and stretching aren’t the sort of things that mostself-respecting 37-year-olds put themselves through, so when ScottStyris pushed Dwayne Bravo to Brian Lara’s right in the covers, he waswell within his rights to assume an easy single was on the cards. Larahowever had other ideas, and with the grace of an ageing gazelle, hesnatched the ball from the turf and pinged down the stumps withStephen Fleming not even in the frame.Anticlimax of the Day
You could say the crowd, but they are yesterday’s news. Once again theattendance was poor as the logistics of filling a stadium in themiddle of nowhere sapped the local enthusiasm. There was one man whohad the capacity to bring back the crowds, however. Chris Gayle is thekingpin of this current West Indian line-up, and after a tortuousfirst half to his innings, he was beginning to cut loose. After sevenruns from his first 19 balls he had recovered to 44 from 55, but thengot too cute as Jacob Oram dropped one short, and inside-edged ontohis stumps. A century was what was needed, but at 81 for 4 thegame was up.Bowler of the Day
Oram’s were the outstanding figures, with 3 for 23, and Daniel Vettorigrabbed a trio of his own, but it was once again Shane Bond who wasNew Zealand’s indisputable cutting edge. He cranked up the pace tolevels unmatched on either side, and struck in each of his threespells. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was becalmed, then beaten by latemovement; Dwayne Bravo fenced at the very first ball of Bond’s return, whilethe No. 11 Corey Collymore couldn’t counter a perfect yorker. For allhis injury problems, Bond has now taken 23 wickets in 11 World Cupmatches, at a stunning average of 16.26.