Tony Becca
Going into the first Test against South Africa, the West Indies were underdogs. At the end of it they were heroes an it was a surprise, the players should be proud and deserve to be proud.
The West Indies started as underdogs and their victory was surprising for one simple reason: the difference in the record of the two teams in recent years.
While the West Indies' record before the start of the Test match showed that they had won their last match way back in 2005 against Pakistan at Kensington Oval and that but for Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, they had won their last match away from home way, way back in 2000 against England at Edgbaston, while, after losing eight out of nine and drawing one, the West Indies had never won a Test match in South Africa.
Ranking eight
And while they were ranked at number eight for a long while, South Africa had defeated the West Indies easily at home in eight out of nine Test matches, they had won their last four series, at home and away from home and bunched on the same number of points (109) with Sri Lanka and India, they were, on the basis of a fraction of a ratings point, ranked at number two with Sri Lanka at number three and India at number four.
On top of that, and apart from the fact that the West Indies had lost to South Africa 'A' by 10 wickets in three days a few days before, as far as centuries made and the averages of their batsmen were concerned, as far as wickets taken and the averages and strike rates of their bowlers were concerned, and young or old, experienced or inexperienced, as far as the consistency of their batsmen and of their bowlers were concerned, South Africa were way ahead of the West Indies.
Although they were without Jonty Rhodes, South Africa's fielding, in the air and on the ground, was also better, and consistently so, than that of the West Indies.
To their everlasting credit, however, the West Indies stood up in Port Elizabeth and performed, and not for a session or two, or a day or two. In fact, they performed so well that they not only dominated all but one session, but they also won the five-day Test match with one day to spare.
Batting vs bowling
But for their batting in the second innings when they had many West Indians wondering if what had happened in the first innings was a mirage, the West Indies batsmen batted better than their South African counterparts, their bowlers bowled better than their South African counterparts, their fielders, on the ground and in the air, were better than their South African counterparts, and apart from the obvious influence, for what reason, of captain Christopher Gayle on the players, that is why the West Indies won.
With Gayle, after he and Daren Ganga had survived the first 30 minutes or so, going at the bowling and hitting the ball nicely, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul playing in his usual manner and with Marlon Samuels, playing each delivery on its merit, batting as if he wanted to bat, batting as if his wicket valued something and in the end batting as he has never batted in his life, the West Indies, with Ganga, Runako Morton and Daren Sammy chipping in, batted responsibly in the first innings and set the stage.
With Daren Powell bowling fast, pitching the ball on a good length and getting it to swing and to cut away from the right-handed batsmen, with Jerome Taylor bowling accurately in terms of length and line, and with Fidel Edwards bowling fast and swinging the ball, the West Indies attack, supported by the aggressive Dwayne Bravo, was first class in both innings; and but for one dropped catch, the West Indies fielding was superb, also in both innings.
Although their performances have seldom ended in victory in the past 10 years, but for Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, even though they had never ended in even one victory away from home since 2000 an they had not ended in victory anywhere since 2005, this is not the first time that the West Indies batting, the West Indies bowling and the West Indies fielding have made West Indians proud.
The difference is that this time around they were brilliant, they were consistent, not for a session or two, not for a day or two, but for the entire match and win, lose or draw, the hope is that, but for the second innings in Port Elizabeth, the West Indies batsmen will bat as well, that the West Indies bowlers will be as consistent, and that their fielders will be just as consistent in the second Test, in the third Test and afterwards.
It was a great victory, bu every one played a part and played it well, the ones who made it really possible were not so much Gayle, who in scoring 66 off 49 deliveries was his usual self, and it was not Chanderpaul, who, in scoring 104 off 253 deliveries in 394 minutes, was also his usual self.
Stars of the game
To me, the stars were Samuels, who faced 195 deliveries while batting for 264 minutes, who, in playing quietly and sensibly before bursting forth and parading his wonderful strokes, played each delivery on merit, the three fast bowlers and Bravo who bowled brilliantly, not in one innings but in both innings, and the fielders who were on their toes, not in one innings but in both innings.
Those were the reasons why the West Indies won it may have had something to do with his personality, it had nothing to do with Gayle's skill as a captain, contrary to what CEO Peters has hinted, it had nothing to with coach John Dyson, who joined the team only a few days before the match and while it is possible, remembering that he is in his third time around as manager and the performance of the team during the first two times, it probably had nothing to do with Clive Lloyd.
It certainly is too early, much too early, to tell.
One thing is sure: the Port Elizabeth ambush was a glorious performance and particu-larly so by Samuels and the three fast bowlers who, unlike previous occasions, kept coming back for each spell as if rejuvenated and rearing to go.
It was like a second Christmas, it was a wonderful New Year's gift, and as far as the team spirit, the professionalism of the team is concerned, hopefully it will continue through the new year and beyond.
