A view of the George Headley Stand taken from the northern stand at Sabina Park yesterday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

THERE WAS plenty for Jamaicans to crow about yesterday. First, the West Indies won and that is always good news.

Toss in the fact that three local lads played major hands in the triumph and that was a real fine layer of icing on the victory cake.

Marlon Samuels got the hometown fans fired up with his quickfire 63 off 68 balls which kick-started a sputtering West Indian innings. His knock included five fours and three superb sixes but it was his counter-attack against Rao Iftikhar after the Pakistan seamer had bogged down the hosts that proved decisive.

In his penultimate over, Iftikhar, who had conceded only 17 runs from his first eight, was walloped for a straight six by Samuels and then driven through covers for four on the way to conceding 13 from the over and being withdrawn from the attack.

The St. Elizabeth-born opening pace duo of Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell then did exactly what was required of them by ripping through the Pakistan top order and leaving the visitors teetering at 39 for three in the 11th over.

Powell bowled his 10 overs straight for figures of 10-1-42-2 while Taylor's two spells yielded 10-1-36-1.

Fine performances all.

However, the undoubted Jamaican star yesterday was the Old Dame of South Camp Road, Sabina.

Like Sophia Loren, Cher, et al, the island's premier cricket venue showed just how a nip here and a tuck there can make an old body look bright and new(ish) again.

Fresh and lively look

The renovated George Headley Stand and the temporary artifice to its left looked fresh and lively as the always colourful West Indian fans cheered on their heroes.

To the north, the new stand - the home of the private boxes and the media, among others - was baptised in grand style and, despite a few power glitches yesterday, will proudly stand sentinel over the famous ground for years to come.

Stuck in a renovation impasse between the Government and the Kingston Cricket Club, the Members Stand is an eyesore that time forgot but, sandwiched between the north stand and the temporary one, it was barely noticeable.

While the periphery of cricket grounds bears the soul, the heart of each arena is the playing field and - in particular - the pitch.

Sabina's strip was vilified by WI skipper Brian Lara and his Indian counterpart, Rahul Dravid, last year but the former sung a sweeter tune yesterday.

"I thought the pitch played pretty good for 100 overs," Lara said of the track, the second of four when counting from the Members Stand.

"I thought this looks to be one of the best tracks I have ever seen at Sabina Park for a an ODI," he said.

His opposite number this time around, Inzamam-ul-Haq, agreed in a flurry ofUrdu superlatives.

"It was perfect," 'Inzy' said through a translator. "There was nothing wrong with the wicket, it played absolutely fine," he responded to questions about his side's poor batting effort.

"It helped the seamers quite a lot but it just came down to who bowled best on the day ... It was such a great wicket that usually we play with eight batsmen but today we played with just seven."

Take a bow, Sabina.

The majestic new northern stand at Sabina Park. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer