The Golden Isles - A West Indies Career.

[nilet]

lost the 20/20 and ODI series 4-1 but a remarkable come back in the first test match, i was really struggling, pakistan making 500 in the first innings and the top order of my batting line up really having difficulty, 111-5 but wait a man on test debut Kieron Pollard batting number 6 and Dwayne Bravo 7 surely could not get the team back on track... well they surpassed my expectations with the best partnership i have witnessed in such a difficult situation in the match, both of them scoing double hundreds adding 400+ together, what a partnership ey and taking me 80 runs in the lead of the weak pakistan bowling attack, with only 4 of their bowlers used.

Anyway that gave me the confidence to think i had a shout of winning the match, bowlers kept it tight to start with in their 2nd innings taking 1 wicket early then i chucked man of the match so far Pollard the ball with which he claimed 4 for 20 odd and so we dismissed them cheaply for 200 that said, we need 120 from the last 2 sessions on day 5 in which gayle and chanderpaul both making 50's to win by 9 wickets

[Mully2010]

Wow i'm surprise my country had that much steel in them well in the game anyway.
Finally someone see that Pollard can bat he use to average 44 in first class cricket before he played for the windies.

[Imager36]

No double centuries from my West Indian team. A bit of magic from Bishoo backed up by solid batting from Sarwan saw us over the line though.



We lost the toss, and we had to field first, on a pitch that looked good for batting, with sunshine predicted for all five days. Our effort started well, with Umar and Shehzad falling cheaply to Rampaul and Roach respectively, to leave Pakistan 20/2. Fawad Alam and Younis Khan then put on a partnership of 67, which included 51 off 64 balls for an unusually free-flowing Younis, who hit 10 boundary fours in this innings. Alam was then joined by the less exciting but equally in-form Yousuf, who hit 75, but after he and then Alam himself were out, Misbah, Haider and the rest quickly followed suit, with the last 4 wickets going down for 18 runs. Rampaul got three of them, and his five-for is therefore less impressive than it otherwise would be!

Our first innings was an innings of a single partnership. The openers made 32, but when they were both out, Chanderpaul and Sarwan set about making a partnership worth 151 runs, before Chanderpaul was caught behind off the tricky Kaneria. Bravo, Bravo, Baugh and Sammy came and went before Sarwan could get his century and then get bowled by Wahab Riaz. Roach and Bishoo also went quickly, and our 266 all out put us almost 90 runs behind the Pakistanis.

The second innings for Pakistan started very similarly to their first. Umar and this time Alam were out cheaply to leave them reeling at 15/2, but then a good partnership between Shehzad (47) and Khan (75) looked to make certain the fact that Pakistan would have a good lead and should be able to go on to win the test match. Shehzad and then Yousuf fell to Dwayne Bravo. Then Devendra Bishoo happened to Pakistan. He took all 6 remaining wickets for 17 runs, 2 bowled, 3 caught close, and 1 lbw, to set the West Indies up nicely, meaning we needed only 256 to win instead of a target which could easily have been 400+.

We knew we had 2 days to reach the target, so we started as defensive as we needed to be. Barath fell cheaply for 2 from 15, and Chanderpaul went for 14 off 53 to leave the score at a dangerous 50/2. Gayle, Sarwan and the Bravo brothers did not feel like making the game exciting, however, and knocked off the required runs slowly and simply, despite the first two of these falling to Kaneria for 60 and 75 respectively.

Good Points

• We won! Always good to get this as a good point
• Bishoo's phenomenal bowling display in the second innings.
• We didn't let the Pakistani tail make runs in either innings.
• Sarwan's brilliant hundred and a 75 to make sure we won the game.
• After the brilliant bowling by Bishoo, the batsmen made sure it didn't get exciting.

Bad Points

• Disappointing that Sammy didn't pick up a wicket in the match.
• Roach only picked up 2/147.
• No resistance from the lower middle order in the first innings.

Team News

No changes to the team, as Sammy gets another chance to prove himself.

[Major]

Wow i'm surprise my country had that much steel in them well in the game anyway.
Finally someone see that can bat he use to average 44 in first class cricket before he played for the windies.

Fantastic figures if you are a Trinidadian! Bravo and Pollard with double hundreds. With results like this some people may be calling for Trinidad and Tobago to go off on its own as an associate country:

[Major]

No double centuries from my West Indian team. A bit of magic from Bishoo backed up by solid batting from Sarwan saw us over the line though.



We lost the toss, and we had to field first, on a pitch that looked good for batting, with sunshine predicted for all five days. Our effort started well, with Umar and Shehzad falling cheaply to Rampaul and Roach respectively, to leave Pakistan 20/2. Fawad Alam and Younis Khan then put on a partnership of 67, which included 51 off 64 balls for an unusually free-flowing Younis, who hit 10 boundary fours in this innings. Alam was then joined by the less exciting but equally in-form Yousuf, who hit 75, but after he and then Alam himself were out, Misbah, Haider and the rest quickly followed suit, with the last 4 wickets going down for 18 runs. Rampaul got three of them, and his five-for is therefore less impressive than it otherwise would be!

Our first innings was an innings of a single partnership. The openers made 32, but when they were both out, Chanderpaul and Sarwan set about making a partnership worth 151 runs, before Chanderpaul was caught behind off the tricky Kaneria. Bravo, Bravo, Baugh and Sammy came and went before Sarwan could get his century and then get bowled by Wahab Riaz. Roach and Bishoo also went quickly, and our 266 all out put us almost 90 runs behind the Pakistanis.

The second innings for Pakistan started very similarly to their first. Umar and this time Alam were out cheaply to leave them reeling at 15/2, but then a good partnership between Shehzad (47) and Khan (75) looked to make certain the fact that Pakistan would have a good lead and should be able to go on to win the test match. Shehzad and then Yousuf fell to Dwayne Bravo. Then Devendra Bishoo happened to Pakistan. He took all 6 remaining wickets for 17 runs, 2 bowled, 3 caught close, and 1 lbw, to set the West Indies up nicely, meaning we needed only 256 to win instead of a target which could easily have been 400+.

We knew we had 2 days to reach the target, so we started as defensive as we needed to be. Barath fell cheaply for 2 from 15, and Chanderpaul went for 14 off 53 to leave the score at a dangerous 50/2. Gayle, Sarwan and the Bravo brothers did not feel like making the game exciting, however, and knocked off the required runs slowly and simply, despite the first two of these falling to Kaneria for 60 and 75 respectively.

Good Points

• We won! Always good to get this as a good point
• Bishoo's phenomenal bowling display in the second innings.
• We didn't let the Pakistani tail make runs in either innings.
• Sarwan's brilliant hundred and a 75 to make sure we won the game.
• After the brilliant bowling by Bishoo, the batsmen made sure it didn't get exciting.

Bad Points

• Disappointing that Sammy didn't pick up a wicket in the match.
• Roach only picked up 2/147.
• No resistance from the lower middle order in the first innings.

Team News

No changes to the team, as Sammy gets another chance to prove himself.

With a win in this 2 match series seems the luck of the Sammy will continue in ICC as it does in real life. Keen to see how you would judge him as a selector

[Imager36]

With a win in this 2 match series seems the luck of the Sammy will continue in ICC as it does in real life. Keen to see how you would judge him as a selector

If we keep going the way we are I might just keep him in as a captain, like England did with Mike Brearley in the old days

[Imager36]

Ok, we've secured our first test series, and I'm rather happy with it!



We lost the toss again and had to bat second. Luckily, this time, the first innings by Pakistan caused us no problems. An opening partnership of 51 between Umar and Shehzad made sure we were worried about what was to follow, but when Bravo and Rampaul had picked up their wickets, the top order followed them. Alam, Khan, Yousuf (bowled by Sammy in his first over) and Shafiq all fell for single figure scores, and it was only a partnership of 46 between the brilliant Haider (47 off 59) and the stodgy Gul (19 off 52) that saved the chance of Pakistan being bowled out for under 100. As soon as Haider had gone, though, Ajmal and Gul followed suit, leaving the West Indies in a good position.

Barath and Chanderpaul fell cheaply and early to make me wonder whether I'd misread the pitch, leaving us at our favourite score 20/2, before a 115 partnership between Gayle and Sarwan, which only ended due to Sarwan being run out for 54, made us favourites to complete a clean sweep of the test series. Sarwan was replaced by Darren Bravo, who steered the innings from the time Gayle was out, making a beautiful 86 batting with every other player. His brother got a 2 ball duck, Baugh managed 27, Sammy 7, Rampaul 13 and Roach 17, but it was Darren who got out in the end, whilst Bishoo stood at the non-strikers end without having faced. It was a shame it wasn't his first international hundred, but it was an innings worthy of it, and it gave us a healthy lead of 153 runs.

Pakistan looked like they might collapse again as Roach bowled Umar for 1 in his second over, but Shehzad and Alam built well and both scored 30s, and when they got out there was no relenting. At times, in the partnership between Yousuf and Younis, I felt that there was quickly becoming a good chance of us losing the game, as the partnership became 194. When Dwayne Bravo bowled both of them in the nervous 90s, I somehow knew that luck was on our side and we should go on to win. The Pakistani resistance for the tour was not over, however. Haider made a fighting 75 with the tail to make sure that we had a total to chase, on a day 4 pitch that looked unpredictable at best.

Barath failed for the 7th time in 7 innings, and Gayle went for 23 just when he looked like he was getting in to it. Sarwan went for 10 from 18 to make the situation as nervy as possible, but the cool heads of Chanderpaul and the two Bravo brothers saw that we yet again won by 6 wickets, and we won the series 2-0.

Good points

• Winning the test series 2-0.
• Moving up one place to 7th in the Test rankings.
• Darren Bravo's great batting performance.
• Dwayne Bravo's 5 wicket haul in the second innings.
• Chanderpaul playing a solid innings exactly when one was needed.

Bad Points

• Barath failing twice.
• Almost letting Pakistan come back into the game after being well on top.

[GrahamB]

You're going well.

[Imager36]

You're going well.

So it seems, yes... but when your next series is against India, I think we all know the team are about to be brought back to earth

Last words - Tests with Pakistan

Batsman of the Series

Always hard to do these awards with such a short series, but Darren Bravo (229 runs) gets my vote over Sarwan (239) for being such a young fellow and having 2 not outs in his 4 innings.

Bowler of the Series

For his efforts in making us win the first test match from a losing position, and with 12 wickets in the series, this award can only really go to the rising star Devendra Bishoo.

And with that series won 2-0, we can move on and get ready to quiver before the might of India. There is one change to the squad for the ODIs against Pakistan to face India, and that is that Suliemann Benn is replaced by the up-and-coming left arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh. Here is the squad in full:-

D. Smith (O)
A. Barath (O)
C. Gayle (O)
S. Chanderpaul (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT) (VC)
DM. Bravo (BAT)
C. Baugh (WK)
DJ. Bravo (ALL)
K. Pollard (ALL)
K. Roach (SEAM)
A. Russell (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
R. Rampaul (SEAM)
D. Sammy (SEAM) (C)
K. Kantasingh (SPIN)

And the team for the T20 international is the same team that played the 3rd and 4th ODIs against Pakistan, except for the fact that Darren Sammy is ill, and as such is replaced in the team by Andre Russell and as captain by Ramnaresh Sarwan, leaving the team like this:-

C. Gayle
A. Barath
S. Chanderpaul
R. Sarwan (C)
DM. Bravo
DJ. Bravo
C. Baugh (K)
A. Russell
R. Rampaul
K. Roach
D. Bishoo

[stanley_1994]

So it seems, yes... but when your next series is against India, I think we all know the team are about to be brought back to earth

Last words - Tests with Pakistan

Batsman of the Series

Always hard to do these awards with such a short series, but Darren Bravo (229 runs) gets my vote over Sarwan (239) for being such a young fellow and having 2 not outs in his 4 innings.

Bowler of the Series

For his efforts in making us win the first test match from a losing position, and with 12 wickets in the series, this award can only really go to the rising star Devendra Bishoo.

And with that series won 2-0, we can move on and get ready to quiver before the might of India. There is one change to the squad for the ODIs against Pakistan to face India, and that is that Suliemann Benn is replaced by the up-and-coming left arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh. Here is the squad in full:-



And the team for the T20 international is the same team that played the 3rd and 4th ODIs against Pakistan, except for the fact that Darren Sammy is ill, and as such is replaced in the team by Andre Russell and as captain by Ramnaresh Sarwan, leaving the team like this:-

Continue with good work mate.Sammy proving to be fantastic player.

[Imager36]

Well... I have to say I wasn't expecting that.



Yep, a victory by 6 wickets and not a single ball. I'll talk you through it.

We won the toss, and put the Indian team into bat. We made a great start, ripping through their top order as Russell bowled Vijay, Laxman edged behind off Roach and Sharma was caught in the deep off Russell to leave India 24/3. Then Gambhir really hit his stride, and as Kohli gave Roach his second catch of the day, this time off Bravo, he found a partner in MS Dhoni. Their partnership took India from 59 to 150, and made sure that they would be firm favourites for the match. Gambhir eventually fell for 74 off 47, and Irfan Pathan didn't make use of the 15 deliveries he had to get India to a really big score, managing only 14. Dhoni eventually went lbw to Bishoo, and the innings was over for 179.

The West Indian innings got off to a solid start, but not a quick enough one. Needing 9 an over to win the match, only one of the powerplay overs went for more than 7, and after the first 6 we were 35/0, not a bad position, but not even going at 6 runs per over. Then the West Indian batsmen exploded. The 7th over was the biggest of the innings, Pathan going for 17 to ruin his figures, and no over from 7-15 scored under 9 runs. Even when Gayle was out in the 8th over bowled by Mishra, Shiv Chanderpaul came out and played an innings of class. His 65 was as vital to our cause as Barath's, and came in only 32 balls, including a magnificent 12 boundary 4s. The opening partnership had been 63, but the one between Barath and Chanders was 97, and took us within sight of our target.

When Chanders got out, going for his 8th cover drive for 4, we only needed 20 more runs in 19 balls. Simple for any other team. A single off the last ball of Harbhajan's over, but 2 wickets in the next off Chawla made the game tight. The two Bravo brothers only got 2 runs off the 19th, and needed 9 off the final over, eventually needing 7 off the last two balls before a massive six from Dwayne turned the game on its head yet again. Can you tell I'm excited about the win yet?

Good Points

• We beat India at T20. Didn't really need to spell this out for you.
• Great bowling, especially from Russell and Rampaul.
• The phenomenal batting of Chanderpaul and Barath's more than handy similar score.

Bad Points

• Roach was expensive, leaking 55 off his 4 overs.
• We almost made a winning situation into a losing one... only Dwayne Bravo saved us.

Team News

After his good bowling in that match I'm tempted to keep Russell in, but he is replaced by the fully fit again captain Darren Sammy.

[Imager36]

I did just have to check that I was playing on normal. I am. This is all down to luck, skill, or other. In this case, luck that one Christopher Gayle was in form.



India won the toss and made the decision to bat first, on a pitch that looked like it might be a bit of a green-top. Well... I thought it was going to be a green top, but then Gambhir and Vijay put on 90 for the first wicket and it looked like we might be chasing a massive score. Kemar Roach was spanked for numerous fours by the rampant batsmen, and looked more like a village cricketer than a West Indies international. Luckily, Dwayne Bravo, who himself was being hit for big runs, managed to remove the Indian top 3 in the space of 7 overs to make the situation more precarious. The great man Sachin then came in, and we didn't manage to remove him, as he struck 70 from 75 not out, with Sharma and Pathan struck cameos, before Chawla, Kumar, Kumar and Khan were all removed swiftly to make a total which really should have been 320+ into one that only reached 282.

Our innings would have been nothing without the aid of one innings, of one man. Chris Gayle strode out to the middle, and in the 2 hours 25 minutes he was at the crease, his batting was superlative. In his 137, off only 102 balls, he hit 18 boundary fours, and another 2 boundary sixes. He scored predominantly offside, and a massive slog sweep for six was a particular highlight. Barath, Chanderpaul and the incredibly explosive Sarwan (43 off 24) all came and went, and when Gayle was gone, bowled by the impressive Chawla, Darren Bravo steered the side home with an unbeaten 55, and even though Dwayne and Baugh threw their wickets away, we won with 39 balls to spare.

Good Points

• What do you mean good points? We just thrashed India in an ODI.
• All thanks to a fantastic hundred from the man of the moment Chris Gayle.
• Promising bowling, especially from Rampaul and Bishoo.

Bad Points

• India did score 282, on a bad day. That makes me worry for the next 4.
• Bravo and Roach were too expensive.
• Collapse of wickets near the end of our chase to make it nervier than it should have been.

Team News

Go on, guess it. No, I'm not going to tell you. Not even if you ask nicely.

[GrahamB]

...........Sammy proving to be fantastic player.

He destroyed my batting when I played against the Windies!

[Imager36]

I'm on holiday atm... so I'll update this in a week

[alex.scargill]

I did just have to check that I was playing on normal. I am. This is all down to luck, skill, or other. In this case, luck that one Christopher Gayle was in form.



India won the toss and made the decision to bat first, on a pitch that looked like it might be a bit of a green-top. Well... I thought it was going to be a green top, but then Gambhir and Vijay put on 90 for the first wicket and it looked like we might be chasing a massive score. Kemar Roach was spanked for numerous fours by the rampant batsmen, and looked more like a village cricketer than a West Indies international. Luckily, Dwayne Bravo, who himself was being hit for big runs, managed to remove the Indian top 3 in the space of 7 overs to make the situation more precarious. The great man Sachin then came in, and we didn't manage to remove him, as he struck 70 from 75 not out, with Sharma and Pathan struck cameos, before Chawla, Kumar, Kumar and Khan were all removed swiftly to make a total which really should have been 320+ into one that only reached 282.

Our innings would have been nothing without the aid of one innings, of one man. Chris Gayle strode out to the middle, and in the 2 hours 25 minutes he was at the crease, his batting was superlative. In his 137, off only 102 balls, he hit 18 boundary fours, and another 2 boundary sixes. He scored predominantly offside, and a massive slog sweep for six was a particular highlight. Barath, Chanderpaul and the incredibly explosive Sarwan (43 off 24) all came and went, and when Gayle was gone, bowled by the impressive Chawla, Darren Bravo steered the side home with an unbeaten 55, and even though Dwayne and Baugh threw their wickets away, we won with 39 balls to spare.

Good Points

• What do you mean good points? We just thrashed India in an ODI.
• All thanks to a fantastic hundred from the man of the moment Chris Gayle.
• Promising bowling, especially from Rampaul and Bishoo.

Bad Points

• India did score 282, on a bad day. That makes me worry for the next 4.
• Bravo and Roach were too expensive.
• Collapse of wickets near the end of our chase to make it nervier than it should have been.

Team News

Go on, guess it. No, I'm not going to tell you. Not even if you ask nicely.

Gayle batted very well there.