KEY PLAYER: Daren Powell has impressed with the ability to take early wickets and West Indies will rely on him to make the breakthrough against Australia on Tuesday. — PHOTO: AFP

St. Peter's: The structure of the 2007 World Cup is not unlike a three-act play.

The curtain has been lowered on the first act: the set up. The group stage involved the introduction of characters and themes. Some were fleshed out better than others. Ireland and Bangladesh were particularly evocative: Ireland for the contrariness of its progress, Bangladesh for the joy of its struggle.

Some — India and Pakistan among them — either added to the back-story or performed non-speaking roles. They've exited. Most of the other protagonists have, as expected, advanced their storylines. This has not occurred in isolation — skirmishes have been indulged, for they deepen the plot.

The second act, confrontation, is upon us. This act is the driver of the play, the chord between the set up in the first act and the resolution in the third. For satisfactory resolution in the knock-out, confrontation in the Super Eight must be credibly tense.

On Tuesday, Australia and the West Indies begin the second act here at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Both sides are undefeated and have carried points to Antigua, the largest of the English-speaking Leeward Islands.

The other leg of the Super Eight is scheduled to start in the low coastal plains of Guyana on Wednesday. There have been teething troubles — a media advisory says it'll be a struggle to supply uninterrupted power — with the World Cup chiefs and the Local Organising Committee involved in a standoff.

No such trouble here at St. Peter's, at least not yet. The West Indies has managed to keep its focus through all that was happening at Kingston, and is, in all probability, three wins away from a popular semifinal berth.

"We're building to a point where we want to get on to the bigger games like Australia. The majority of the batsmen have had a hit and that's good for us. We just need to up the ante a little bit," said Brian Lara, the West Indies captain.

"We've done well against them in the recent past," he said. "And in the last couple of global tournaments since the 2003 World Cup, we've won one and finished runner-up in the other. We want to keep growing as a team."

Encouraging signs

The signs have been encouraging: Marlon Samuels has finally tethered his loose-limbed batting talent to ambition and made the number four spot his own; Dwayne Smith is just beginning to pull his weight as a stroke-maker of exceptional eye and a medium-pacer of chaffing control; Daren Powell has impressed with the physicality of his action, the ability to take early wickets.

Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, and Ramnaresh Sarwan — the barbershop quartet of modern Caribbean stroke-play — remain. But, the most striking feature of the West Indies has been the togetherness. Dwayne Bravo's wild celebrations have been well attended: clearly the players enjoy each other's success.

Diminished favourite

Australia came into the World Cup favourite, but a diminished favourite.

Losses to England in the Commonwealth Bank series and to New Zealand in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy had pierced the aura. While the batting had beef, the bowling looked decidedly scrawny. After Shane Warne's retirement, Brett Lee was beginning to fill his boots as a striker in the middle-overs. But, Lee's pullout left Ponting without the wares his predecessors had taken for granted.

Ponting was also missing his mate Andrew Symonds. Both worries have since ceased. Shaun Tait may have tendered the odd fast half-volley on the pads, but he showed that genuine pace like exaggerated turn is an indispensable dimension in the middle-overs.

Symonds's return from his bicep injury against South Africa couldn't have gone off better either. His prowling walk transitioned to the belly dive like in the days of old; he also hit a flat, murderous boundary that would have tested his bottom hand with no discomfort.

Interesting

It'll be interesting to see how the track plays. Andy Roberts, pitch consultant, CWC, expects bounce. In the group games, Lara tried out all his bowlers including Gayle and Samuels. He believes he has the variety needed for any surface.

Ponting may have had the jeebies after South Africa's start, but the fact that his bowlers capitalised on Shane Watson's brilliance in the field would have settled the flutters. The West Indies has troubled Australia in the recent past. Crucially, as evident in Gayle sledging Michael Clarke in the Champions Trophy, the side has seemed desperate to compete on level terms with the defending champion.

The teams (from): Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Nathan Bracken, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin.

West Indies: Brian Lara (captain), Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor.

Hours of play (IST): 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. and 11.15 p.m. till close.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail