Cricket Tournaments

Nathan McCullum has done a good job for New Zealand up front with the new ball

Ever since Deepak Patel first opened the bowling for New Zealand under Martin Crowe, opening with spinners seems to have become a bit of a trend. They did it right through the 90’s with the Windies taking it through to the turn of the century.

With flatter tracks in the sub continent, it is New Zealand again who are definite on opening their bowling with a spinner. Nathan McCullum is the one who is given the job and has done it pretty well in the recent past.

Zimbabwe, West Indies and South Africa are the other teams who are looking to use this strategy.

West Indies and South Africa are the astonishing ones, couple of decades back, you would never have imagined a spinner opening the bowling with these two teams. Indeed, in Harsha Bhogle’s words, the cricketing equivalent of the el- nino. Seems a worth while strategy as the ball does not come onto the bat and the harder newer ball offers the spinners with greater bounce.

Most teams rich in spin will look to use them right up front especially against foreign teams like Australia and England as they are not known to handle the spinners well.

An interesting move to say the least and is pretty much a safe bet against teams like Australia and England.

As if there weren’t enough things wrong in West Indies cricket, Sulieman Benn was sent off the field by skipper Chris Gayle during the fourth ODI against South Africa. While it sounds rather bizarre than Benn couldn’t comply with his skipper’s request to bowl from over the wicket, the whole fiasco, in a sense, exemplifies all things wrong with West Indies cricket.

When a bowler is unable to execute the basics on the field, expecting them to win would be a miraculous dream. No surprises then that the Caribbeans have lost both the T20s as well as the four ODIs, and a 5-0 whitewash now seems imminent.

Innumerable articles have been written about the disaster called the West Indies cricket team, most with good intentions, since everybody loves the Calypso style of cricket. Still, nothing seems to change in West Indies cricket. Since the exit of Richie Richardson in the mid 90s, the mantle of captaincy has been passed on to every possible personnel in hope of rejuvenation.

But none among Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Carl Hooper or Chris Gayle has been able to lead Windies’ resurgence. To be fair to the skippers, as they say, a captain is only as good as his team. And as far as West Indies cricket is concerned, a lot of it boils down to the mental aptitude of the players, which clearly isn’t the best in the current team.

Under the given circumstances, it is strange that Gayle has come out and chosen to say that he is happy with the team’s effort. It is understood that South Africa is by a wide margin the better of the two sides. But, instead of going through the motions, this fact should have encouraged the underdogs to go all out and prove a point.

In the process, if they had lost the series, it wouldn’t have mattered much since they weren’t expected to win anyways. However, the lack of application and consistency on the part of both the batsmen and the bowlers has been utterly disappointing.

In the third game, they couldn’t chase down a mediocre total of 224, and in the fourth match they were unsuccessful in defending a 300 plus score, clearly demonstrated that they lack the will to win.

The one good point that Gayle mentioned after the series loss was that they he feared the team might forget the art of winning. As things stand, this is becoming quite a distinct possibility. But, thankfully the otherwise jovial skipper recognizes the danger. It was also pleasing to hear that the team has cut down on the party count, and is focusing far more seriously on the practice front.

These sacrifices would count for little though if West Indies cannot turn things around soon. Also, Gayle isn’t getting any younger, and so he needs to instill a sense of confidence in the side by the time he quits the international arena.

Going back to where we began, in an ironic sense, it was good to see Gayle treating his left-arm spinner harshly. Discipline is one aspect that has never found too much respect among West Indian cricket lately. And, if the reprimand can help Benn get a better hang of himself as a cricketer, and as a person, West Indies can only benefit.

West Indies’ impressive performance against India would have given their fans hope to seeing their team in the final four. Alas, it turned out to be a mirage as the home team were back to their incongruous ways against the mighty Australians.

Not only did they succumb to a heavy six-wicket defeat, but also crushed their chances of make it to the semi-finals after Lanka beat India by five-wickets. West Indies’ hero in the last game, skipper Chris Gayle, could not get it right against their old rivals and his failure led to West Indies’ magnanimous collapse.

They crumbed to 105 all out, a target which was effortlessly achieved by the Aussies inside 17 overs.

The win means they go into the semi-finals against Pakistan on Friday with a clean slate, and their chances of capturing the elusive T20 crown look rather bright from hereon.

Australia did not have to do much to qualify for the semis. Even a narrow defeat would have not hindered their progress. But, as is the Aussie culture, they were keen to finish the Super Eights on a high.

Thus, David Warner blasted 25 in 12 balls with the assistance of four boundaries and a huge six over to get the Aussies off to an incredible start even while chasing a miniscule total.

Warner’s dismissal was soon followed by Shane Watson’s, who dragged one from Sulieman Benn onto his stumps. But, there wasn’t much joy for West Indies thereafter.

Brad Haddin crafted a mature 46-ball 42 to grind out the Windies. Haddin departed just prior to the target being achieved, the match eventually ended in an inauspicious manner with skipper Gayle bowling five wides.

Haddin apart, Australia captain Michael Clarke chipped in with 16 from 24 balls before being disappointingly run-out. But, David Hussey registered a calm 10 not out to see the Aussies past the finishing line.

For West Indies, it was the story of one man’s failure resulting in the collapse of the whole team. And that one man was Gayle himself, who dragged a lethal Dirk Nannes delivery onto his stumps.

The rest followed suit as if they were just there to fill in the places. Praise though needs to be reserved for Australia’s potent bowling attack too who never allowed the Windies batsmen to settle.

The home team faltered to 60 for 5 at the halfway stage of their innings and needed something special from Kieron Pollard to post a decent target. That wasn’t to be though.

After Mitchell Johnson did the early damage, removing Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 24, leg spinner Steven Smith took over and crushed West Indies’ chances even further.

He sent back Pollard and Darren Sammy off successive deliveries. And, though he failed to get the hat-trick, his three-wicket effort was enough put Australia on the victory path. For the batting side only Ramnaresh Sarwan put up a fight, collecting 26 from 32 balls.

Unfortunately, there was no support at all from the other end. A 20-run stand between Nikita Miller and Benn enabled West Indies to cross 100. But, by then, irreparable damage had already been done and Australia merely finished off the formalities with the bat.