West Indies class versus Indian quality (31 October 1998)
Five down, two to go
31-Oct-1998
31 October 1998
West Indies class versus Indian quality
By Garth Wattley
Five down, two to go!
Brian Lara and his new-look West Indies team have established a run of
five consecutive wins in One-day Internationals beginning during the
five-match series against England earlier this year.
And this morning in Dhaka, Lara and his men will be aiming to stretch
that run to six-in the first instance. To do so they will have to
overcome an Indian team boasting the might of the in-form Sachin
Tendulkar in today's second semifinal.
Tendulkar's magnificent 141 against Australia was the foundation on
which India's mammoth, match-winning total of 307 was made. And the
innings bespoke the kind of form that could put a real spanner in the
works for the Windies today, whether the Caribbean side bats first or
second.
Keith Arthurton, Man-of-the-Match against Pakistan after scoring a
vital 33 runs in the middle order and capturing four wickets for 31
runs in 10 overs said yesterday that the West Indians were expecting a
real fight.
"We just have to put up a decent score, because it seems like no
matter how much you make here, it always seems gettable anyway. We're
looking (to get) somewhere close to 300 (runs). Once we can bat well,
(...) bowl well and field well, I don't see why we can't come out
victorious."
Lara, aware of the Tendulkar threat, will have good cause to be
quietly confident.
His own side's 30-run victory over Pakistan in Thursday's quarterfinal
was achieved through an admirable allround bowling effort that
restricted the explosive Pakistanis to a comparatively modest 259.
There are not likely to be any changes to the line-up in this area,
especially given the way spinners Keith Arthurton and Carl Hooper
performed.
And Rawl Lewis, while only bowling four overs, did enough with both
ball and bat to hold on to his spot. While the captain, out for just
16 in the first match, expressed some disappointment over the
middle-order slump of which he was a part, the explosive opening
effort by Philo Wallace and his century partnership with Shivnarine
Chanderpaul would have been extremely heartening.
And Wallace, one half of the dynamite partnership forged with Clayton
Lambert, could be reunited with his left-handed strike partner today.
Lambert is reported to be fully recovered from the ailment that kept
him out of the Pakistan match. And his return is likely to mean the
exit of Stuart Williams.
Lara will be hoping, especially if his team has first strike, that the
early batsmen give his side another very sound start. Such a beginning
may be doubly important if the rain that dogged yesterday's semi
between finalists South Africa and Sri Lanka returns today as
expected.
After his recent unhappy experiences with Trinidad and Tobago in the
Red Stripe Bowl, Lara will not want to leave matters up to the
elements.
But should super Sachin go into overdrive again, the Prince of Port of
Spain will have to produce one of those extraordinary efforts, studded
with four and sixes, of which every West Indian knows him to be
capable.
Only thus will he be able to take his team into the final. And keep
alive the hopes of achieving a magnificent seven.
Source :: The Trinidad Express (https://www.trinidad.net/express/)