Hooper praises Windies

Hooper

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, (Reuters):

WEST Indies captain Carl Hooper praised his young side for an all-round effort in difficult circumstances as they crushed Zimbabwe in the first Test yesterday.

West Indies won by an innings and 176 runs as they dismissed Zimbabwe for 228 in their second innings shortly after tea on day four.

The win put them one up in the two-Test series, with the second Test beginning in Harare on Friday.

"Leading up to the Test match we were plagued by a lot of injuries and I suppose victory meant even more to me given the squad we had to pick from," Hooper said.

"We had replacements flying in at the last moment and even the night before the game we weren't sure who to play.

"The way our cricket is at the moment any Test victory is important for us.

"We've now got to go on to Harare and make sure we don't get complacent. We certainly don't want to lose it.

"We haven't had a Test series victory away from home in a while so it would be a big boost to the team if we can do that."

Although Hooper said the team would celebrate the victory and be rewarded with a day off on Monday, he was keen to keep the performance in perspective.

"It's only my second series in charge but we're making progress," he said.

"There are still areas which needing brushing up on and I think we need to keep this victory in context. No disrespect to Zimbabwe but they're certainly not one of the stronger teams around.

"But I thought it was still a good victory, a total team effort."

Hooper underlined the importance of winning the one-day triangular series which preceded the Test match, where they outplayed India in the final.

"Winning the one-day series has had a tremendous effect on the team," said Hooper.

"You only have to look at the body language to see the batsmen are confident and the bowlers are sure about what they're doing and that's what you saw on the field today."

Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak admitted that his team were second best from the outset.

The hosts were facing an uphill struggle after being dismissed for 155 in their first innings after winning the toss and choosing to bat on an easy wicket.

"It goes without saying that we did not apply ourselves as we should have on a wicket that was batsman-friendly," Streak said.

"West Indies showed us how to bat on it and they were rewarded.

"If you look at the way our batsmen got out, a lot of them were very soft dismissals and I think all the batters realise that.

"In Test cricket if you lapse in concentration you can lose the game and we unfortunately lost it on the first day."

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