Tony Becca
SOUTH AFRICA wrapped up the Digicel one-day series with a stunning victory over the West Indies at Kensington Oval on Wednesday.
In winning the match - the third of the series, South Africa did not only take a winning 3-0 lead in the five-match contest, however. In winning it, South Africa, winners of the four-match Test series, and again before the final match was played, also embarrassed the West Indies once again.
This time, however, it was worse - much worse.
After losing the first match on Saturday at Sabina Park by eight wickets with five overs to spare, and also the second on Sunday and again at Sabina Park by eight wickets with 6.2 overs to spare, the West Indies went to Kensington Oval, won the toss, decided to bat first and, after looking all over the winners, lost the match by one run with one delivery to spare.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the West Indies limited South Africa to 284 for six and, with Christopher Gayle batting brilliantly before he was dismissed for 132 at 258 for six in the 46th over, were on the way to victory before, to the amazement of their fans, probably even to the South Africans, they lost the match.
As we used to say as boys, it was a perfect example of snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory.
BRADSHAW BOWLED
With the score on 281 for six, with seven deliveries to go and the West Indies needing four to win, Courtney Browne went for a big hit against Makhaya Ntini and was caught off the leading edge at mid-on, and with the score on 283 for seven with four deliveries to go and the West Indies needing two runs off four deliveries to win, Ian Bradshaw swung at pacer Charl Langeveldt and was bowled.
Daren Powell then swung at the next delivery and was bowled and last man Corey Collymore, shuffling across in a desperate attempt to find the single that would give Bravo a chance to win the match off the last delivery, was leg before wicket to the next delivery.
It was unbelievable, it was worse than anything that happened during the Test series - probably worse than anything that has ever happened to the West Indies.
To lose five wickets for 25 runs in four overs is no longer surprising in West Indies cricket. In fact, that is a regular occurrence these days.
EMBARRASSING
To lose four wickets for two runs in six deliveries is also no longer surprising, and neither is it surprising to lose three wickets in three deliveries - not when it happened just a year or so ago in a Test match right there at Kensington Oval and not when there have been many instances in recent times of opposing bowlers finding themselves on a hat-trick after taking two wickets with successive deliveries.
What was embarrassing, however, what really underlined the weakness of this West Indies team was that all that happened at the bottom of the West Indies innings with victory a few runs away.
In other words, with four wickets to get four runs, the West Indies got only two, and with three wickets to get two runs in order to win a match, the West Indies, by losing all three wickets in three deliveries, did not even get one.
On Tuesday, one the eve of the match and after the West Indies had lost the Test series without a fight and after they had lost the first two one-day internationals without a fight, Darren Millien, the West Indies Board's marketing manager, was asked about the poor ticket sales which was then around 2,500, and his response was staggering.
"We are trying to find out the reasons for the poor sales so far," said Millien.
He must have been joking. There is only one reason for the poor sales, there are tens of thousands of West Indians who could have told him what it is, and if he really does not know what it is, then something is wrong, really wrong with West Indies cricket.
