I may forever refer to this at that test match.
What can I say about that match? Well yeah, maybe I could tell you what happened, you're right. We won the toss and took the easy decision to bat on a pitch that would be dodgy late in the match, but we made what can only be described as an inconspicuous start, as Barath, Burton and Edwards fell early to make it 20/3, and then Sarwan went for 24 to make it only 67/4. Then, however, the comeback started, with two 70+ partnerships involving number 6 Mike Alford. Darren Bravo was the first man to join him, and left for 49, but keeper Browne came to the crease and hit 37 to take us to 209/6 when he fell. Alford went soon after for his well constructed 77, and the tail fell away more quickly than we'd have liked.
We started well, and with them at 142/5, we felt we should bowl out Australia with maybe even a small lead on our hands, but it was not to be. The dangerous Phil Hughes was still at the crease, and after he'd put on 69 with Smith, 50 with Bird and 70 with tail-ender Siddle, it seemed like we'd thrown our chance to win the match away. They had a lead of just over 100, and the scoring was only going to get more difficult.
Burton was again out early to leave us 9/1, but Barath and Edwards restored some pride as they returned us to 92/2. A couple more wickets though, again left us in the mire at 121/4. Cue Mike Alford again. He put on 51 with the still-hanging-on Captain Kirk, and despite Browne's failing, put on another 52 with débutante Stoute. Even when Mike fell though, we were only 130 ahead, not really enough to challenge the mighty Aussies. Lucky then that Imran Khan and Kev McClean put on a partnership of 58 that was both plucky and incredibly entertaining.
Australia needed 204 runs to win the first test. They didn't quite get them. They started well though, with the aggressive Shane Watson taking them to 98/1, 67 from his own bat. From then on, the result hung in the balance. We came back through the spin of Sunil Narine to make them 156/6, but with Peter Nevill at the crease still we felt venerable. We removed Bird and Siddle quickly to keep the dream alive, but Nevill and Pattinson put on 15 to almost scupper us at the last... thankfully, Nevill was outdone by the pace of McClean, and Putland was dismissed by a ball that pitched well outside off and would have hit leg from Narine. Brilliant test.
Series State - West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award - Mike Alford - 137 runs from the match was more than any of the rest of our team, and especially valuable in the comeback situations.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - Won us the match on the 4th and 5th days. Brilliant spin bowling.
Team News - Squad stays the same, but on a pitch with less turn, Sammy replaces Imran Khan.
What can I say about that match? Well yeah, maybe I could tell you what happened, you're right. We won the toss and took the easy decision to bat on a pitch that would be dodgy late in the match, but we made what can only be described as an inconspicuous start, as Barath, Burton and Edwards fell early to make it 20/3, and then Sarwan went for 24 to make it only 67/4. Then, however, the comeback started, with two 70+ partnerships involving number 6 Mike Alford. Darren Bravo was the first man to join him, and left for 49, but keeper Browne came to the crease and hit 37 to take us to 209/6 when he fell. Alford went soon after for his well constructed 77, and the tail fell away more quickly than we'd have liked.
We started well, and with them at 142/5, we felt we should bowl out Australia with maybe even a small lead on our hands, but it was not to be. The dangerous Phil Hughes was still at the crease, and after he'd put on 69 with Smith, 50 with Bird and 70 with tail-ender Siddle, it seemed like we'd thrown our chance to win the match away. They had a lead of just over 100, and the scoring was only going to get more difficult.
Burton was again out early to leave us 9/1, but Barath and Edwards restored some pride as they returned us to 92/2. A couple more wickets though, again left us in the mire at 121/4. Cue Mike Alford again. He put on 51 with the still-hanging-on Captain Kirk, and despite Browne's failing, put on another 52 with débutante Stoute. Even when Mike fell though, we were only 130 ahead, not really enough to challenge the mighty Aussies. Lucky then that Imran Khan and Kev McClean put on a partnership of 58 that was both plucky and incredibly entertaining.
Australia needed 204 runs to win the first test. They didn't quite get them. They started well though, with the aggressive Shane Watson taking them to 98/1, 67 from his own bat. From then on, the result hung in the balance. We came back through the spin of Sunil Narine to make them 156/6, but with Peter Nevill at the crease still we felt venerable. We removed Bird and Siddle quickly to keep the dream alive, but Nevill and Pattinson put on 15 to almost scupper us at the last... thankfully, Nevill was outdone by the pace of McClean, and Putland was dismissed by a ball that pitched well outside off and would have hit leg from Narine. Brilliant test.
Series State - West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award - Mike Alford - 137 runs from the match was more than any of the rest of our team, and especially valuable in the comeback situations.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - Won us the match on the 4th and 5th days. Brilliant spin bowling.
Team News - Squad stays the same, but on a pitch with less turn, Sammy replaces Imran Khan.
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