West Indies captain Brian Lara receives a standing ovation from the crowd at Kensington Oval in Barbados yesterday. Lara made 33 in his last one-day innings at the famous ground. - Dellmar Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados:
THE WEST Indies, led by an attacking and attractive innings by Ramnaresh Sarwan, entertained an excellent gathering at Kensington Oval yesterday and, in the process, ticked off their first victory in the Super Eights round of the Cricket World Cup tournament.
Batting first after losing the toss and being sent to bat by an ambitious Bangladesh who were hoping to take advantage of a West Indies team which, after losing to Australia, to New Zealand, to Sri Lanka and to South Africa, looked ready for the plucking by any and probably all comers, the West Indies recovered from a shaky start, posted 230 for five off their allotted 50 overs, and then, paced by Corey Collymore and Daren Powell, routed Bangladesh, in their last match of the tournament, for a paltry 131 overs off 43.5 overs.
In winning the match, the West Indies, who carried two points from the first round into the second round, are now on four points and, with one match to go, against England tomorrow, are no longer in the cellar.
If you had been in some faraway place, like Mars, for example, and had turned up at Kensington Oval yesterday, you would have been forgiven if you believed that the West Indies were enjoying a good tournament and were still in the hunt for the title.
The new-look Kensington Oval was well populated and, apart from the thousands of British fans, the hundreds of Indian fans and scores of South African fans on hand, there were also thousands of West Indians who cheered and cheered even though the West Indies, looking jaded and punch-drunk, started poorly and after losing Devon Smith and Christopher Gayle were eight for two in the fifth over.
In spite of a few handsome drives by Marlon Samuels who, on 31, drove loosely at left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique and edged a catch to wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim and departed the scene at 55 for three in the 22nd over, the West Indies were pinned back at 67 for three after 25 overs, and only Sarwan's brilliance, plus a gem of an innings by captain Brian Lara, lifted them to a respectable total - a total which, nevertheless, was like a mountain for Bangladesh.
West Indies innings
| C. Gayle lbw Rasel | 1 |
| D. Smith b Mortaza | 5 |
| S. Chanderpaul b Ahmed | 50 |
| M. Samuels c Rahim b Shakib | 31 |
| R. Sarwan not out | 91 |
| B. Lara c Omar b Razzak | 33 |
| D. Bravo not out | 9 |
| Extras: (3lb, 7w) | 10 |
| TOTAL: (for five wkts - 50 overs) | 230 |
Fall:1-8, 2-8, 3-55, 4-136, 5-196. Bowling: Mashrafee Mortaza 10-2-39-1 (2w), Syed Rasel 10-2-48-1 (5w), Abdur Razzak 10-0-44-1, Mohammad Rafique 10-0-46-0, Shakib al Hasan 8-0-38-1, Aftab Ahmed 2-0-12-1. Bangladesh innings J. Omar c Gayle b Powell | 16 |
| T. Iqbal run out (Bravo) | 7 |
| A. Ahmed c Ramdin b Collymore | 6 |
| S. al Hasan c Ramdin b Collymore | 0 |
| M. Ashraful c Samuels b Powell | 2 |
| H. Bashar c Bravo b Powell | 12 |
| M. Rahim not out | 38 |
| M. Mortaza b Bravo | 37 |
| M. Rafique lbw Gayle | 0 |
| A. Razzak c Lara b Bravo | 1 |
| S. Rasel b Gayle | 2 |
| Extras: (1lb, 2nb, 7w) | 10 |
| TOTAL: (all out - 43.5 overs) | 131 |
Fall: 1-13, 2-21, 3-23, 4-34, 5-35, 6-52, 7-110 8-111, 9-114, 10-131. Bowling: Corey Collymore 7-1-11-2 (1w), Daren Powell 10-0-38-3 (4w), Jerome Taylor 8-0-25-0 (1w), Dwayne Bravo 10-3-28-2 (2nb, 1w), Chris Gayle 8.5-0-28-2. Result: West Indies won by 99 runs. STANDINGS | P | W | T | L | NR | Pts |
x-Australia | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 12 |
| x-Sri Lanka | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | | 10 |
| x-New Zealand | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | 10 |
| x-South Africa | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | | 8 |
| England | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | | 4 |
| West Indies | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | | 4 |
| Bangladesh | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | | 2 |
| Ireland | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | | 2 |
x-advance to semi-finals
Lara was not pushed - Gordon WEST INDIES Cricket Board (WICB) president Ken Gordon has rubbished rumours that captain Brian Lara was forced into retirement. "Brian has not been pushed out," Gordon told the Hitz 92 sports programme yesterday. Rumours have it that Lara, who earlier announced that tomorrow's game against England would be his last one-day international, would be sacked as a player. Quizzed if Lara got a hint of his possible non-selection to tour England next month, Gordon said: "Until that kind of thing happens, we can't say any decision has been taken for anyone not to go, someone may have raised that thought ... I don't know." Former West Indies players Courtney Walsh and Jeffrey Dujon expressed surprise at Lara's retirement. Walsh, who had just landed in Barbados when contacted, said he would not want to comment until he could confirm Lara's decision. However, the former West Indies captain said if it were true, "Yes, it would come as a surprise to me." Dujon, a former West Indies keeper, said: "I am a little surprised because he was taking about going to England". Dujon, however, believes "it (decision) comes at a good time" and said the team would now have time to rebuild. "He is the best batsman in the team but now the others will have to step up."
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