Brian Lara of the West Indies hits a four during game seven of the VB Series One Day International Tournament between Pakistan and the West Indies, at the Adelaide Oval yesterday. Lara scored 156.
ADELAIDE, Australia (CMC):
BRIAN LARA smashed a majestic 156 in leading his West Indies team to a 58-run victory over Pakistan yesterday that keeps their hopes alive of reaching the finals of the tri-nation VB Series.
Playing the classic captain's innings in yet another must-win situation for the regional side, Lara's 19th One-Day International century lifted the Caribbean side to 339 for four, the highest total in an ODI at the Adelaide Oval.
Their combination of medium-fast and slow bowlers then restricted the Pakistanis to 281 for nine in reply, so setting the stage for the decisive final preliminary match between the same teams on Tuesday in Perth.
MOVED INTO SECOND
With five points earned from their first victory of the series, the West Indies moved into second spot in the standings on nine points, two ahead of Pakistan.
Inzamam-ul-Haq's squad face Australia who have already
qualified for the Best-of-Three finals with an unassailable 26 points in the penultimate preliminary match in Perth on Sunday (tonight Caribbean time).
But whatever the result of that day/night encounter, the hosts will only know their opponents in the finals two days later as the winners of the West Indies-Pakistan daytime duel will move on to Melbourne for the first match of the finals on Friday, while the losers will be packing their bags for the journey home.
Acutely aware that the fate of his team rested on winning their final two matches, Lara took on the responsibility himself in an innings that started slowly in overcast conditions before he exploded with a stunning array of strokes after reaching fifty.
Getting considerable support from vice-captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who stroked 85 in a 187-run third-wicket partnership, the left-handed maestro left most in the small crowd of just over 5,000 spectators gasping at his awesome display.
WRIST INJURY
Bothered by a lingering wrist injury, the obvious 'Man of the Match' took 81 deliveries and included just three fours in reaching the half-century mark. But warming to the task as the threatening clouds lifted, Lara destroyed all who dared bowl to him in plundering his next 105 runs off an astonishing 57 balls before he was bowled by part-time off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez, having equalled his highest limited-over score which was also compiled against Pakistan in Sharjah almost 12 years earlier.
He crashed five sixes and 12 fours in an innings brimming with memorable strokes, none more so than a scything square-drive for six that fizzed over the boundary fence at backward-point.
It was not a flawless innings as he gave two chances on 95 and 139 but even those blemishes could not take away from the lustre of his innings.
"Early on, I was still getting a feeling of pain in my wrist and the ball wasn't coming on properly," he said after the match.
"But as I got warmed and the adrenaline started flowing, things really worked out later on. The ball got a bit softer, and with (Shahid) Afridi bowling in the middle overs and the other guys coming back (for second spells), I thought it was time to up the momentum."
Such was the dramatic increase in the tempo of the innings that 172 runs were scored of the last 15 overs, leaving Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq at a loss to stem the tide and in no doubt about Lara's match-winning ability.
"Lara is a world-class player. When he's on the go he's difficult to stop," a morose Inzamam
conceded.
"I think it's the best knock he's played against us. When he gets runs, I think his team must win. He's a (match)-winning player."
With the cushion of such a massive total to defend, the West Indies, without being anywhere near perfect in the field, played with purpose in reducing the Pakistanis to 107 for five before identical knocks of 45 from Yousuf Youhanna and Abdul Razzaq, along with an unbeaten 40 by Azhar Mahmood, denied the West Indies the additional bonus point.
FIRST MATCH
In his first match of the series, fast bowler Reon King snared the wickets of Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, while Wavell Hinds and Dwayne Bravo also claimed two wickets each.
Bravo highlighted the West Indies fielding effort, diving full length to his left at backward-point to clutch a sliced drive by Inzamam off Hinds that effectively ended the match as a contest in the 24th over.
Chris Gayle bowled four expensive overs, his first effort (bowling) since damaging his shoulder in the opening match of the tournament against Australia in Melbourne two weeks earlier.
There were also injury concerns over left-arm seamers Pedro Collins (strained thigh) and Ian Bradshaw (sore heel), but the most serious injury came as the West Indies top order struggled in ominous weather conditions after they were put in.
FLATTERED TO DECLINE
A spate of no-balls and wides helped them along, but Gayle again flattered to deceive, being bowled for nine by Ifitkhar Rao as a he missed an expansive, leaden-footed drive.
Ricardo Powell, drafted into the final eleven and thrust into the opening slot, was fortunate to survive two LBW appeals before he played across the line once too often to Rana Naved-ul-Hassan and was adjudged leg-before for 23.
In between those dismissals, Ramnaresh Sarwan was forced to retire hurt with what was subsequently revealed to be bad bruising to his right elbow as the deceptive Rana struck the right-hander a painful blow as he missed an attempted pull.
Chanderpaul joined Lara, and as they have done so often in the past decade, repaired the innings. Their initial caution also included a slice of luck for the vice-captain when he was missed by a diving Inzamam at slip off Razzaq when on 21.
Chanderpaul eventually reached a workmanlike fifty off 72 balls with four boundaries, and while he was then prepared to trail in Lara's wake as the captain tore into all bowlers, the determined Guyanese struck a six of his own and added two more fours before top-edging a sweep off Afridi to be caught by Hafeez almost directly behind the batsman's wicket .
