The Hindu : Sport : Meticulous Kiwis prove too good for Windies

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Saturday, Mar 31, 2007
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Meticulous Kiwis prove too good for Windies

S. Ram Mahesh

Second successive defeat leaves Brian Lara's men in a tight spot

St. Peter's: Thursday's Super Eight match between New Zealand and the West Indies was at once a celebration and a confirmation.

A celebration because it showed cricket's complexity allows teams of different styles, philosophies, and methods to win; there isn't one catchall formula.

A confirmation because it proved again that cricket, despite its indulgence of individual brilliance and private contests, is essentially a team sport.

The better team will almost always win; that an inspired individual can occasionally sabotage this truism adds to it.

New Zealand, refined, calculated, and meticulously prepared, defeated the West Indies, raw, instinctive, and painfully dispirited by seven wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground. But, the match had far more nuance than a rash of adjectives can capture.

Making the correct call

Stephen Fleming, New Zealand's thoughtful captain, admitted his side had the better of the conditions after he chose to bowl. The West Indies, through Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, batted out a difficult period. But, Man of the Match Jacob Oram, aided by Brendon McCullum, imposed his will on the match.

"The West Indies seemed to be lacking in a bit of enthusiasm," said Fleming.

"They batted well during the difficult part and got through that. We bowled incredibly well to their top-order to get them in that position (81 for four). Then Brian Lara and Dwayne Bravo seemed to fight back with their running. Once we got on top of that, they never really came hard at us."

The chase of 178 required no more than one good partnership and a couple of smaller ones. Daren Powell, who has impressed in the World Cup, bowled Peter Fulton with one that cut away at 140 kmph, but partnerships of 36, 41, and an undefeated 102 settled matters.

Excellent knock

Scott Styris constructed an excellent limited-overs innings though he was helped by the insignificance of the target. He began by finding the fielders off incredibly well-timed drives.

But, he held it together thanks to Fleming, who for a while scored runs for both of them. As the runs needed grew fewer, Styris accelerated to end unbeaten on 80 off 90 balls.

If there were any doubts about the depth and prescience of New Zealand's planning, they were exiled, for the acceleration was part of a plan. "We think ten points will be enough for a semifinal spot," said Fleming, whose side now has four points with five games to play.

"Eight perhaps, but eight will be a bit of a logjam. Eight with a good Net Run Rate might be the difference. That's why we accelerated towards the end — the run rate will definitely come into the picture."

Oram adds immeasurably to the New Zealand side. His batting since his return from injury has been outstanding, but on Thursday he gave the world a teaser of what he offers with the ball.

Oram can switch between defence and offence with his back-of-a-length deliveries, and adds the dimension of bounce to an attack that contains Shane Bond's pace, James Franklin's lefty swing, Michael Mason's control, and Daniel Vettori's spin.

"It just rounds off what I do in this side," said Oram of his bowling.

"Recently, I felt I was playing with just half my skills. But, the conditions being what they were, with the rain, it made up Stephen's (Fleming) mind to bowl. So I knew we were looking to bowl first."

Not looking rosy

The West Indies will be overwhelmed by the failure of the batting in a match it played the extra batsman. The loss puts it in a spot with two defeats from two games, the host needs to win at least three of its four remaining Super Eight matches to stay in the tournament.

"Our top order needs to bat better, we haven't yet scored 250," said West Indies captain Lara. "We seem to be putting the rope around our neck. We haven't played to potential, the guys have to be told that. They need to be reminded why they're here, that they are the best in the West Indies.

It's a question of getting back to the basics."

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