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Posted on 03/14/2007 5:54:30 AM PDT by BaBaStooey
West Indies v Pakistan, Group D, Jamaica
Smith and Bravo come to the fore
The Bulletin by Will Luke
March 13, 2007
West Indies 241 for 9 (Samuels 63, Sarwan 49) beat Pakistan 187 (Malik 62, Smith 3-36, Bravo 3-42) by 54 runs
The West Indies shrugged off any early-tournament nerves with a convincing 54-run win over Pakistan in the opening match of the World Cup at Kingston in Jamaica, with a notable allround performance from Dwayne Smith.
It was an impressive win, not least for their ability to absorb the expectation of hosting their first World Cup. Furthermore, the total they were defending was by no means out of Pakistan's reach. Yet their bowlers - who admittedly are all much of a muchness - hunted in a pack and, unlike Pakistan's, never let the batsmen dismantle their confidence, or their lines.
That they took a wicket with the third ball of Pakistan's reply probably helped, too. Their pack leader for the day, Daren Powell - having been hit for a brazen six the ball before - induced a thick outside edge from Imran Nazir, destabilising Pakistan's fickle confidence. Younis Khan puffed out his chest, but only briefly, and Mohammad Hafeez spooned a catch to Brian Lara. At 39 for 3, Pakistan were throttled by Powell and Jerome Taylor, as Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf chose survival over attack: in one particularly asphyxiating period, a nine-over trough yielded just 13 runs.
The moment the bowlers' control waned Inzamam pounced, bashing three fours of the highest quality and injecting essential pace into an innings which was going nowhere. Enter Smith. His medium-pace infuriated Yousuf who was troubled with consecutive deliveries, before he fell to the sucker-punch in the third, edging him behind.
Inzamam fell soon after trapped lbw and Smith was on a hat-trick when he removed Kamran Akmal. Pakistan's hopes rested on Shoaib Malik, undoubtedly a gifted player but the task - 126 from 18 overs - required rather more than one man's hopeful slogging. Smith's partner in crime was his namesake, the uber-energetic Bravo who added a mouth-watering display of medium-pace, fielding and catching. After removing Iftikhar Anjum, he nonchalantly stuck out his left hand to catch Umar Gul in his follow-through to end Pakistan's hopes, and raise his side's own tournament aspirations.
If anything, their disciplined bowling performance masked a staccato effort with the bat. There were plenty of nerves from their top three - particularly Ramnaresh Sarwan, but if anything he thrives in adversity and deserved a fifty. Without Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, Pakistan's potent duet, Gul and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were Inzamam's strike bowlers but only Gul rose to the occasion, removing Chris Gayle and troubling the top five with a consistently good line.
Rana, whose death-bowling in previous seasons has been irresistibly cruel, was limp and inaccurate and Pakistan had to rely on Iftikhar who didn't disappoint. In fact, the West Indies were constricted to such an extent that even Brian Lara's 37 appeared pedestrian; it was Marlon Samuels who took on the bowlers, launching three magnificent sixes in his swift 63. But with his wicket came the feeling of inevitability, a feeling which morphed into dread when they slipped to 186 for 6.
But this was Smith's day and, with little care for the orthodox, he smashed 32 from 15 balls to the crowd's delight, edging the hosts' total to something resembling a challenge. Fortunately, their bowlers outdid themselves and Smith, in particular, ensured Pakistan didn't have a sniff of a chance. If they play like this for the next six weeks - regardless of how far it takes them - it will be a sight.
Will Luke is editorial assistant of Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
Here are the groups and the match schedule:
Group A - Warner Park, St Kitts
Australia
Scotland
Netherlands
South Africa
Group B - Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad
Bermuda
Bangladesh
India
Sri Lanka
Group C - Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
Canada
Kenya
England
New Zealand
Group D - Sabina Park, Jamaica
Ireland
Pakistan
West Indies - host
Zimbabwe
Schedule:
March 13
West Indies v Pakistan - West Indies won by 54 runs
March 14
Australia v Scotland
Canada v Kenya
March 15
Bermuda v Sri Lanka
Ireland v Zimbabwe
March 16
Netherlands v South Africa
England v New Zealand
March 17
Bangladesh v India
Ireland v Pakistan
March 18
Australia v Netherlands
Canada v England
March 19
Bermuda v India
West Indies v Zimbabwe
March 20
Scotland v South Africa
Kenya v New Zealand
March 21
Bangladesh v Sri Lanka
Pakistan v Zimbabwe
March 22
Netherlands v Scotland
Canada v New Zealand
March 23
India v Sri Lanka
Ireland v West Indies
March 24
Australia v South Africa
England v Kenya
March 25
Bangladesh v Bermuda
March 27-April 21
Super Eights
Top 2 teams from each group advance and play round robin matches at the following venues:
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, St Peter's, Antigua
Providence Stadium, Guyana
National Cricket Stadium, Grenada
Kensington Oval, Barbados
April 24-25
Semi-Finals
Top 4 teams from the group of eight advance, to play (1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3) semifinal matches at the following locations:
Sabina Park, Jamaica
Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia
April 28
Final
Kensington Oval, Barbados
In today's first match, Scotland has won the coin toss and their captain has decided to send the Australians into bat first.
Well, they used to get us American kids out and make us play cricket (they had to make us.) That was a fun game. Shame that more of us don't get a chance to play it.
Also a shame that you don't see American kids out in a field somewhere playin' baseball like you did when I was a kid. Of course, I live in an urban situation so it may still be going on elsewhere.
Line em up at the gate I'm ready ;O)
http://www.knutsonlivebait.com/crickets.html
Bring it on!!!!!
Do you bounce it at their heads at a speed of 95 miles an hour?
The Indian and Pakistanian students take over the tennis courts in the spring to practice for Cricket.
The Windies played neatly yesterday,though their batting still looks tenous-they seem to be shaping up well.This World Cup looks wide open!!!I hope anyone but the Aussies win.They are a great time-but Im too tired of seeing them lift the cup!!!
Yo Ba Ba! This should be an interesting competition. Yes pretty much any team could do it on the day. The Windies were supposed to roll over and die but they didn't.
Keep up the good work
A delight.
Many thanks.
Looking forward to a great series.
FRegards
You guys aren't even close to coming to blows, but I don't want this to be a baseball vs. cricket thread (and to my knowledge, we haven't had that problem on FR to this point).
Baseball was my first love. It is perfectly OK to like both without pitting them against each other.
The World Cup only happens once every 4 years, so lets enjoy it!
The Aussies are currently off to their usual start -- sent in to bat by the Scots (who won the toss), and they are currently 97 for 1 wicket after 19 overs.
Meanwhile, Canada are 81 for 2 wickets against Kenya, who also won the toss and elected to field first.
I live close to Angels' Stadium and go to several matches each year.
Hope Haydos get's his second ton in a row-I really love his imposing stance at the crease.Easily,the second best batsman in the world in the last 7 years-after Ponting.Wonder when the law of averages catches up with Ponting-he has been just unbelievable since the AUS-Pakistan test series of 1999.
Don't know why,but I seem to think that England & West Indies could do well in the World Cup.England has a rather settled combination,though they only have 2 dashers in Pietersen & Flintoff-most major teams have 3 or 4.
Agreed -- Hayden is a mountain of a man. His size alone would make him an imposing football (American), rugby, or ice hockey player.
I guess I'll nominate Yousuf to join your two as the three best batsmen of the past few years. Inzy has also been great, but Yousuf has really been carrying the Pakistan side.
This World Cup has a lot of great players in it -- it will likely be the last one for men such as Tendulkar and Lara.
I used to like Yousuf Youhana a lot,till he thought that the name change & beard, would make eligible for future captain!!!So my predilections stand in the way of that one.I'd rather nominate Rahul Dravid for the third spot,given that he helped win most overseas matches & added stability to the ODI side by keeping wickets.
**Match updates**
Aussies continue to steamroll over the Kilt-wearers as they reach 191 for 2 after 34 overs. Hayden fell on 60. Ponting is 66 not out.
Canucks have stumbled a bit to the Kenyans, they are 130 for 5 wickets after 36 overs. Kenya has taken the key wicket of Davison, Canada's star allrounder and captain. He only managed 8.
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