Chanderpaul Strikes Again to Win Over India
By ASHISH SHUKLA
BRIDGETOWN (BARBADOS): West Indianr Shivnarine Chanderpaul came up with yet another sterling performance to frustrate the Indian bowlers for an unbeaten 109 and bring the curtains down on the one day cricket series with an emphatic 10-wicket win in the fourth and final match here, May 3.
The left-handed batsman, scoring his maiden century in the one-day international, was also associated in a record first-wicket partnership with Stuart Williams (78) as the two chased the 200-run victory target with calm confidence to lift West Indies to a 3-1 win in the series.
Earlier, India once again failed to shake off its dour approach as it struggled hard to overcome the early loss of its prized batsmen--Skipper Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, putting up a modest total of 199 for seven after being sent in to bat.
Chanderpaul, declared Man-of-the-Match as well as Man-of-the Series, tore into the visiting attack after taking some time to settle in, reserving his most destructive treatment against paceman Venkatesh Prasad whose second spell of four overs cost 31 runs in all.
Williams, a transformedr after his knock of 76 in the third one-dayer at St Vincent, carried on with the brilliant touch in sealing his place for the series against Sri Lanka, starting later this month.
Even though Chanderpaul took a heavy toll of the Indian bowling, the visitors appeared listless, without any motivation and ponderous on the field with even seasoned campaigners like Anil Kumble and Prasad bowling an unfair quota of full tosses and long-hops to help the afternoon come to an early end.
The entire Indian approach was capsuled in one instance when Chanderpaul drove Tendulkar straight into the hands of Abey Kuruvilla at mid-on and the fielder did not do as much as to raise his hands to catch it.
Cheered lustily by the home crowd when the batsman entered his 90's, Chanderpaul raised his score to 99 with two boundaries against Kumble but then played five deliveries from Tendulkar and another two overs before he swept past the keeper in Ajay Jadeja’s first over to get the elusive run.
The Guyanese batsman’s century came off 125 balls and included 13 fours and one six while Williams, almost ignored in this Chanderpaul-hype, was stylish in his own right as he hit 10 boundaries in his knock of 78 coming off 132 deliveries.
Indian batsmen struggled hard to put up a modest total of 199 for seven against West Indies.
The early loss ofrs--Skipper Tendulkar and Ganguly--with just six runs on board, placed India into deep trouble and never recovered fully during the later part of the match.
Only four Indian batsmen; Rahul Dravid (30), Mohammed Azharuddin (40), Ajay Jadeja (68) and Robin Singh (29), showed some vigor to stabilize the crumbling Indian inning. All lost their wickets when they attempted to pedal the score fast at inopportune moments.
Offering some possible solutions to get the beleaguered Indian team back on the track, Tendulkar said: "everyone needs to work on a few areas of their cricket. Learning never stops."
"On a tour, perhaps, it is difficult to try out a few things but a constant reassessment is necessary.
"I feel physically, players do need to improve upon their fitness. There have to be a few fitness norms which they must adhere to for their own good. The team urgently needs a physical trainer. No questions on that.
"Also, the boys could do with assistance from a psychologist or psychoanalyst. We need a person in this area who knows the game well. One who is aware of what are the requirements of an international cricketer.
"It is also not a pretty sight to see members with vegetarian food habits struggling on tours. French fries and potatoes is hardly the diet for a sportsman playing at the highest level of the game. I do not know whether a cook is an answer on tours.
"What the team urgently needs is a good all-rounder. A quality all-round player. You look at international teams and all of them have some good all-rounder or other. England has Chris Lewis, Australia Steve Waugh and South Africa Brian Mcmillan, Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener. Unfortunately, we are struggling in this area.
"Lack of an all-rounder, in a way, hinders the team selection as well. ideally I would like to go into a match with five bowlers. It is only positive if we play five bowlers, but because we do not have an all-rounder, we end up having four specialist bowlers only in the team.
"If we still play five bowlers, we would compromise with our batting, we would weaken it. That is why I feel we urgently require an all-rounder. Also, a wrist spinner who can turn on any track." (PTI)
Score Board
India
S.Tendulkar c Lara b Walsh 1
S.Ganguly b Ambrose 4
R.Dravid c Chanderpaul b Rose 30
M.Azharuddin c Browne b Chanderpaul 40
A.Jadeja b Walsh 68
R.Singh c sub (Garrick) b Gibson 29
S.Karim run out 14
A.Kumble not out 8
N.David not out 1
Extras (lb-1 nb-
Total (7 wickets - 50 overs) 199
Fall of wickets: -194
Did not bat: A.Kuruvilla, V.Prasad
Bowling: Walsh 9-3-26-2, Ambrose 10-1-33-1, Gibson 8-0-48-1
(1nb), Rose nb), Chanderpaul 8-0-36-1, Hooper
West Indies
S.Williams not out 78
S.Chanderpaul not out 109
Extras (lb-9 w-1 nb-
Total (no wickets - 44.4 overs) 200
Bowling: Prasad 9-0-44-0, Kuruvilla 6-2-15-0 (nb1), Kumble
10-2-33-0 (w1), David 6-0-38-0, Singh 2-0-7-0, Ganguly 4-0-26-0
(nb1), Tendulkar 5-0-22-0, Jadeja 2.4-0-6-0 (nb1).
West Indies win by 10 wickets.
West Indies win the series 3-1.
Man-of-the-Match: Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Man-of-the-Series: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Reuter)
Gibson, Browne Inspire Win in Third Match
KINGSTOWN (St Vincent): Paceman Ottis Gibson and wicket-keeper Courtney Browne, jeered by the crowd early in the day, inspired West Indies to a dramatic 18-run in their third one-day international against India, April 30.
Gibson, taken out of the West Indies attack after his first two overs cost 18 runs, returned with a vengeance to claim four wickets, breaking the key Indian partnership of Saurav Ganguly (79) and Rahul Dravid (74) in the process.
Browne was involved in three run outs as India, chasing the West Indies 50-over total of 249 for nine, embarked on a mad rush for runs.
Earlier, Stuart Williams had made 76 for the West Indies, his best score in one-day cricket, and was named Man-of-the-Match.
India were eventually bowled out for 231 in their 49th over, losing their last seven wickets for just 30 runs as West Indies took a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.
Gibson and Browne, both from Barbados, were jeered by a St Vincent crowd angry at their inclusion but later silenced their critics.
India overcame the early loss of Captain Sachin Tendulkar for nine and were cruising to victory as Ganguly and Dravid, both batting sensibly, added 130 runs for the second wicket.
Dravid showed little discomfort from a painful shoulder injury sustained in the second game in Trinidad as he quickly went on to the attack, hitting Gibson for three fours in his first over.
Gibson’s revenge came in the first over of his second spell when Dravid dragged a wide delivery onto his stumps with the score on 157.
Ganguly followed 18 runs later when he was caught at mid-on by Curtly Ambrose when hitting out against Franklyn Rose before Gibson struck again, bowling Ajay Jadeja for nine and getting Mohammad Azharuddin caught by Carl Hooper for 24.
At that stage, India required another 49 runs off 53 balls with five wickets left but when Robin Singh skied a catch to Jimmy Adams with the score on 214 and five overs left, the tourists were clearly wobbling.
Browne brilliantly ran out Anil Kumble for a duck and shortly afterwards, Gibson accounted for Syed Karim, who made six.
Browne then removed Abey Kuruvilla and Venkatesh Prasad, both without scoring, triggering an invasion of the field by hundreds of spectators. Noel David was not out for eight.
Earlier, West Indies, sent in to bat on a placid pitch before a capacity bank-holiday crowd of 12,000, made a cautious start.
Williams went on the attack after West Indies scored a mere 11 runs in the first eight overs and lost the wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul for five.
Williams, who had six fours and a six in his 110-ball innings, and Brian Lara, who hit five fours in a breezy 33 off 38 deliveries, added 60 for the second wicket.
Lara struck medium-pacer Robin Singh for three fours in one over but the bowler had his revenge, bowling him off the inside edge.
Adams made just nine but from 86 for three, Williams and Hooper, who stroked a fluent 48, brought stability in a fourth wicket stand of 84 in 16.2 overs.
West Indies lost the wickets of Williams, Hooper, Gibson (3), Roland Holder (16) and Curtly Ambrose (13) in the late charge for quick runs.
Seamer Prasad took two for 53 while paceman Kuruvilla (1-34) and off-spinner David (1-38) bowled economically. (Reuter)
Score Board
West Indies
S.Chanderpaul lbw Kuruvilla 5
S.Williams run out 76
B.Lara b Singh 33
J.Adams c Dravid b David 9
C.Hooper c & b Kumble 48
O.Gibson run out 3
R.Holder c Karim b Prasad 16
C.Ambrose b Prasad 13
C.Browne not out 10
F.Rose run out 9
C.Walsh not out 0
Extras (b4, lb15, nb6, w
Total (50 overs, for nine wickets) 249
Fall of wickets: 7-214 8-
228 9-248
Bowling: Prasad 10-0-53-2, Kuruvilla 10-2-34-1, Kumble 10-1-
46-1, Singh 7-0-46-1, David 10-1-38-1, Tendulkar 3-0-13-0
India
S.Tendulkar b Walsh 9
S.Ganguly c Ambrose b Rose 79
R.Dravid b Gibson 74
M.Azharuddin c Hooper b Gibson 24
A.Jadeja b Gibson 9
R.Singh c Adams b Ambrose 4
S.Karim c Lara b Gibson 6
A.Kumble run out 0
N.David not out 8
A.Kuruvilla run out 0
V.Prasad run out 0
Extras (lb11, nb4, w
Total (48.2 overs) 231
Fall of wickets: -
224 9-230
Bowling: Walsh , Ambrose 9-1-34-1, Rose 8-0-41-1,
Gibson 10-0-61-4, Hooper 8-0-36-0, Adams 4-0-22-0.
West Indies won by 18 runs.
Man-of-the-Match: Stuart Williams. (Reuter
Copyright © 1997 IndiaWeb Post. All rights reserved.
|