Date-stamped : 18 Aug2000 - 18:23
16 February 1996
3rd ODI: Zimbabwe v West Indies, Match Report
Mark Nicholas
World Cup: Strang strikes brief spark amid Lara`s show of flair
West Indies (155-4) beat Zimbabwe (151-9) by 6 wickets
Under spectacular light and in front of a large and enthusiastic
crowd in Hyderabad yesterday, Brian Lara returned to the interna-
tional stage. The world`s finest batsman had an exciting game;
finished it, in fact, with a mighty blow over mid-off for six and
the West Indies had a most satisfactory day brushing aside the
potentially bullish Zimbabweans by six wickets and with 20 overs
to spare.
Thankfully for the occasion, Lara`s flair was matched by Brian
Strang`s leg spin as all four West Indian wickets fell to crafty
bowling, albeit with a fluke thrown in. The pitch was a good one,
though it became slower as the ball became softer and Strang
found plenty of turn which gave a vivid reminder to the competi-
tion of the power of the wrist spinner and his value on the sub-
continent.
The other teams will have also been reminded that the West Indi-
ans are not to be taken lightly. They may not be the formidable
force of old but they are not spent and, clearly, some tough
talking has galvanised their approach.
Curtly Ambrose, the man of the match, began the day with his ra-
dar all over the place and a nine-ball over. Andy Flower, the
Zimbabwe captain, who won the toss and chose to bat, started the
day with a characteristically stolen single, one that his broth-
er, Grant, only marginally made, but did not have time for any
more as, in Ambrose`s second over, he fell to a wicked bouncing
delivery which beat his forward defence.
The younger Flower, who has added some strokes to his stubborn
resistance, drove Courtney Walsh down the ground and smashed Am-
brose on the up and wide of extra cover during his pleasant in-
nings before Ottis Gibson clung to an instinctive return catch.
This triggered a short but fatal silly season for Zimbabwe as,
first, Alastair Campbell was brilliantly run out by Lara`s liquid
one-handed pick up and direct hit from square leg and then, an
over later, Guy Whittall took on Ian Bishop at mid-on and lost by
half a yard.
Bravely as Andre Waller, Craig Evans and Strang manoeuvred the
ball about, none of the West Indian bowlers was stretched and
their tidy figures reflected a useful work-out. The one-day
rule which outlaws the bumper denies the tall, fast bowlers their
most brutal weapon, but they can bowl an awkward length and a
good yorker and rarely are they easy to dominate.
It needed an immediate wicket or two to get the knees knocking in
the West Indian dressing room and Heath Streak stormed in, beat-
ing Sherwin Campbell around off stump and forcing Richardson to
mis-hook.
But the force was not with them and the West Indies hurried along
to 78 by the 20th over when Strang began his magic.
Richardson was caught at slip, cutting; Campbell out-thought by
the googly; Chanderpaul, having hit his first two balls for four,
was confused by a high full toss; and Arthurton gloved a googly
to slip. All the while, Lara did his own thing, driving and pul-
ling with amazing power.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http.//www.telegraph.co.uk)
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