The Hindu : Sport : Windies holds its nerves

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Thursday, Oct 19, 2006
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Windies holds its nerves

G. Viswanath

Taylor rocks the Aussies with hat-trick in dying stages

HAT-TRICK BALL: Brad Hog's stumps are disarranged to give Jerome Taylor his hat-trick and push West Indies closer to victory. - PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK

Mumbai: The West Indies held its nerves towards the end and brought the mighty Australians down by 10 runs, with Jerome Taylor performing a hat-trick (Michael Hussey, Brett Lee and Brad Hogg ) spread over two overs in their Champions Trophy clash at the Brabourne Stadium here on Wednesday night.

With Brian Lara not taking the field due to a back spasm, the West Indians gathered their wits about them and beat back the challenge posed by the 101-run sixth-wicket stand between Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke after Chris Gayle celebrated Andrew Symonds's wicket with a Caribbean style victory dance.

Smart fielding

It took a smart piece of work from Wavell Hinds at short third man to terminate a superb effort by Gilchrist (92, 112b, eleven 4s) and trigger the Australian slide from a probable winning position. Runako Morton, Brian Lara, Taylor and Ian Bradshaw shared the honours for the West Indies, but the Man of the Match award went to Morton for his unbeaten 90.

Lara's side was the underdog when the match began and Ricky Ponting's Australia dominated the first hour of play and when Gilchrist and Clarke steered their side out of troubled waters. The attacking left-hander, for a change, interspersed his usual style of play with deft strokes to find the gaps and keep the scoreboard ticking.

But once Hinds and Gayle combined well to beat the scampering Gilchrist, and Dwayne Bravo latched on to a return catch off a limp defensive shot from Clarke, the match drifted away from Australia.

All class

Brian Lara was all class as the West Indies mustered up sufficient runs for the Australians to face a difficult task under lights.

As if possessing a magic wand, Lara played delicate and sumptuous strokes. It was a superb effort by Lara (71, 94b, seven 4s, two 6s) coming in after the fall of the fourth wicket.

This was the time when Ricky Ponting had employed four seamers and a spinner in Michael Clarke and taken control of the match.

Well-calculated

Initially he was slated to come in at No. 4, but had afterthoughts after Dwayne Smith's departure. His entry at No. 6 turned out to be a well-calculated move that paid off for his side struggling to find its bearings.

Bit of daring

Encouraged by the technique, patience and a little bit of daring displayed by Runako Morton (90 not out, 103b, seven 4s, one 6) Lara got into the rescue act. Lara swept Brad Hogg square and fine and Ponting did not care to bring in the left arm spinner after a short spell of three overs.

A back cut he struck off Hogg thrilled the crowd that gave a standing ovation as he departed. Two sixes, one pulled from outside the off stump off Watson showed the power of his forearms and a flicked six off Brett Lee reflected how well he had picked the line and length.

Unfortunately the spectators were denied an opportunity to see Lara complete a century. The West Indies captain played a couple of thunderous shots before belting Glenn McGrath to Andrew Symonds at cover. With back pain hampering him, Lara decided to throw caution to the wind. It was a courageous act, but the Lara preferred a fit man to strike blows, instead of plodding along in the company of Morton.

Lara had hinted at the possibility of strategic changes, especially in the batting order on the eve of the match. Morton, whose last innings was a widely condemned 31-ball zero against Australia in the DLF Cup final in Kuala Lumpur, was an unlikely starter.

But dehydration because of food poisoning left Shivnaraine Chanderpaul in the dressing room and provided a chance for Morton in a vital match.

The Australian skipper introduced Lee from the club house end, and chose left arm seamer Nathan Bracken to operate the new ball from the end where Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas had removed Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan five days ago.

Swing and bounce

Lee managed to swing the ball and extract bounce and bowled an excellent opening spell getting rid of Smith who had off driven him before and cover driven the left armer.

It was smooth sailing for the Australians for a little over an over after Wavell Hinds edged to Ponting at second slip, Gayle nicked one to Adam Gilchrist, Smith flicked to Brad Hogg at square leg and Sarwan fell leg before to a delivery that straightened from left arm spinner Clarke. At 63 for four it looked curtains for the West Indies. Sarwan had earlier hammered Watson for two fours.

But Morton decided to play the sheet anchor's role to near perfection for 19 minutes short of three hours. Lara and Morton added 137 off 176 balls that lifted the West Indies from a precarious position to a fighting total. The pitch deemed a villain for two matches turned out to a good one in the first half.

Ponting said it was a disappointing defeat against the West Indies and he was looking forward to make amends in the next two matches against England and India.

Lavishing praise on Lara's batting he said: "He is fine player against spin bowling. He settled in first and then began to open out. Taylor has the ability to swing the ball late. It was a difficult target to chase and we lost three quick wickets. I will not blame the conditions or the pitch.''

Sarwan, acting captain in Lara's absence, said West Indies was not surprised by the result. "We beat them in Kuala Lumpur. We are the defending champions and we are expected to play well. Once Gilchrist got out, we were confident of winning the match.''

West Indies: W. Hinds c Ponting b Bracken 1, C. Gayle c Gilchrist b Watson 24, D. Smith c Hogg b Lee 8, R. Sarwan lbw b Clarke 21, R. Morton (not out) 90, B. Lara c Symonds b McGrath 71, C. Baugh c Ponting b Bracken 13, M. Samuels (not out) 1; Extras(lb-1, nb-1, w-3) 5; Total (for 6 wkts, 50 overs) 234.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-25, 3- 47, 4-63, 5-200, 6-236

Australia bowling: Lee 8-0- 45-1, Bracken 10-1-42-2, McGrath 8-0-42-1, Watson 8-0- 34-1, Clarke 5-0-18-1, Symonds 8-0-35-0, Hogg 3-0-17-0.

Australia: A. Gilchrist (run out) 92, S. Watson c Sarwan b Bradshaw 0, R. Ponting b Taylor 1, D. Martyn c Bravo b Gayle 17, A. Symonds b Gayle 18, M. Clarke c & b Bravo 47, M. Hussey b Taylor 13, B. Hogg b Taylor 10, B. Lee lbw b Taylor 0, N. Bracken (not out) 3, G. McGrath (not out) 3; Extras (lb-8, nb-3, w-9) 20; Total (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 224.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-17, 3-44, 4-81, 5-182, 6-206, 7-214, 8- 214, 9-219

West Indies bowling: Bradshaw 10-0-38-2, Taylor 10-0- 49-4, Smith 3-0-16-0, Samuels 10-1-36-0, Gayle 10-0-39-1, Bravo 6-0-33-1, Sarwan 1-0-5-0

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