Best Faz article yet...
Doing it the hard way
Fazeer Mohammed
Friday, October 27th 2006
Cause for celebration indeed, but you could understand the muted reaction from the victors.
Yesterday's nerve-jangling three-wicket win over India with two balls to spare in Ahmedabad has confirmed the West Indies' spot in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. Yet the manner in which the Caribbean side stumbled and almost fell flat on their faces when they should have been strolling through to a modest target of 224 runs took a lot of gloss off the effort.
Make no mistake, though, for fans who have grown depressingly accustomed to seeing their team completely self-destruct (remember South African Charl Langeveldt's hat-trick in the last over at Kensington Oval last year and the wholesale collapse against Australia in Kuala Lumpur five weeks ago?), this is a moment to savour, never mind that it was achieved at the end with more than a whiff of desperation in the air.
Dwayne Smith is almost unrecognisable from the player who scored a blazing hundred on Test debut, but it is a measure of how well so many players in this squad have worked on different aspects of their game that the Barbadian, so technically flawed as a batsman, has developed into a key member of the bowling department.
And I suppose that is what will be emphasised to the players heading into tomorrow's final group game against England.
They almost made a complete mess of the chase, but the fact that they didn't, and still managed to do just enough to reach the target, should bolster confidence that was sky-high after last week's ten-run upset of Australia.
Not so long ago, it was standard practice for the West Indies to throw it all away with a display of spectacularly nonsensical cricket. Like recovering addicts, there is still that tendency to return to the destructive habits, and it is safe to say that there are a few more occasions to come in the very near future when fans will be cussing in disbelief at how so-and-so fool threw away such-and-such match.
But the fact is that they are becoming more familiar with victory in the shorter form of the game, and that confidence is slowly taking root.
Save for the final half-an-hour yesterday, it was almost as perfect an overall effort that can be expected from what is still an inconsistent side.
Disciplined, economic bowling (with the notable exceptions of Dwayne Bravo and Chris Gayle), superb outcricket (highlighted by Smith's critical run out of Indian captain Rahul Dravid) and composed, assured pursuit of the target for most of the first 46 overs (Man of the Match Shivnarine Chanderpaul, vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan and Runako Morton leading the way) should not be overlooked in the inevitable preoccupation with the palpable sense of panic in the final minutes.
Jerome Taylor's pace and accuracy along with Ian Bradshaw's experience and discipline combined for five wickets for just 63 runs off 20 overs. Smith's supportive role (37 runs off his ten overs) and Marlon Samuels' nine overs that cost 35 runs would have heartened Brian Lara, even as the West Indies captain continued to feel the considerable discomfort of a back injury that seems to be more serious than first thought.
It may be sensible for him to rest from tomorrow's duel with the English, but then again, he must be so keen to maintain this winning momentum heading into next week's semi-finals and will not want to disrupt the line-up unnecessarily.
Lara expects much from his young charges, not least the genuine all-rounder Bravo, and there is almost a hint of blind faith in his fellow villager, especially when he insists on using him in the final overs.
The decision to promote Bravo to number three in the batting order served its purpose, although it is highly questionable whether it is an experiment that should be persisted with, especially when the skipper is fit and able again.
Thankfully, the rest of the top order played key roles. Even Gayle's belligerent 34 was useful in pushing the Indians on the back foot.
The half-centuries of Chanderpaul, as phlegmatic as ever in his 200th One-Day International, and Sarwan were object lessons on how runs can be accumulated steadily in limited-over matches without having to swing for the hills.
Morton, his status in the eyes of international critics elevated after scoring 90 against the Aussies eight days earlier, again emphasised that determination and discipline are more valuable attributes than style and flair.
Okay, so his attempted pull off Ajit Agarkar at the end of the 48th over was a case of poor shot selection, while the near dismissal of Samuels and the subsequent run out of Sarwan off the same delivery can be looked at with considerable humour now in the context of a match that was eventually won.
Had the result been different, all now people would still be arguing about who more doltish than who, unfairly consigning all of the previous hard work to the rubbish bin, almost as if it had never happened.
In the end, that's what really matters these days, winning or losing. For West Indians who have suffered for longer than anyone could possibly have expected after Mark Taylor's Australians claimed the Frank Worrell Trophy in 1995, we'll take a win however we can and go into the match against England knowing that while we look to the semi-finals, Andrew Flintoff's men are heading home, win, lose or tie tomorrow.
It's a good feeling.
fazeer2001@hotmail.com
