The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

[Imager36]

We could have played more aggressively and won, but I'm safety first.



We won the toss, and batted, aiming to stay in as long as possible and secure the draw before the need for a game arose. As Gayle and Barath put on an opening partnership of 106, this began to look likely. Barath fell for a sedate 31, but Kirk Edwards came in and played very nicely. Soon, we were 182/2 when Gayle fell, and 260/3 when Darren Bravo's brief innings came to a close. Edwards followed very closely afterwards, and Dwayne hit it straight back to Sunny to make it 292/5. With our strong lower order, to collapse from 292/4 to 325 all out.

We started well in response, however, a series of regular wickets reducing the hosts to 102/5 courtesy of 4 Rampaul strikes. Tamim then put on 110 with Hossain, who put on 87 with Ghosh in turn. It was looking like scores would be fairly even until Sunny and Mahmud put on 45 for the last wicket to give us a deficit of 40 runs exactly.

We started adequately, but with Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo at the crease, we really pushed for that draw. Edwards and Darren put on 146, and Edwards and Nash managed another 111 to put us almost 300 ahead, and looking at a series victory. A mini-collapse left us 380/6, but Ramdin and Russell put on 76 to grind Bangladesh into the ground and really demoralise their bowlers ahead of the one day matches.

In the end, it seemed we should have declared and tried to bowl them out, but as I felt there was no point due to the way the world rankings work, I didn't. Never mind.

Series State - West Indies win the series 1-0.
Batting Award - Kirk Edwards - Performed in both innings, meaning we've found a number 3 ready for test cricket.
Bowling Award - Ravi Rampaul - 8 wickets in total in the match, and that would generally win you an award such as this. That is also the case here.

Series Awards

It's really hard to do these when you're only playing 8 innings. Never mind.

Batting Award - Chris Gayle - Not the man with most runs in the party, but the only one to pass 50 three times, and perform in both test matches.
Bowling Award - Devendra Bishoo - The surfaces turned, but he took advantage, with 13 wickets in 2 matches to lower his test bowling average to under 30 this year.

And then there's a party of 15 to pick for a friendly in Dhaka and no less than 5 one day internationals.

C. Gayle (OASP)
L. Simmons (OK)
A. Barath (O)
S. Chanderpaul (BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
J. Blackwood (BAT)
K. Pollard (ALL)
D. Smith (ALL)
Dwayne Bravo (ALL)
A. Russell (ALL)
S. Narine (SPIN)
K. Roach (SEAM)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
N. Pascal (SEAM)

Two new faces in the squad. Jermaine Blackwood is a 21 year old batsman who has not played that much cricket to date, but a 5 match series in Bangladesh seems the ideal opportunity to give him a chance and let him blend in with the squad a little. 25 year old quick Nelon Pascal has previous with me, but very strong domestic performances have made me take note, and he makes the squad to possibly play a real part.

Team News for Dhaka friendly - Sure-fire 4 Gayle, Chanderpaul, Russell and Roach miss out, meaning Pascal and Blackwood are in at the deep end, and those two, Smith and Pollard are likely to make way in the first ODI proper.

[cricfan1]

Russel is Such a fantastic Find of West indies

[Imager36]

A win that for a long time looked unlikely.



On a pitch that looked like it would turn from ball 1, we chose to bat first. Gayle and Barath made 77 for the first wicket, and Edwards made 21 of the 29 partnership that followed. Darren fell early, and Gayle went soon after for 62. The lower order, however, battling from 129/4, were sensational. Nash made a patient 54 off 144 balls, but Dwayne came in and smashed it around, making 75 including 10 boundaries. Ramdin knocked a nice 70, and Andre Russell came in and hit 66. Nash and Bravo made a partnership of 117, and Russell and Ramdin just surpassed them with 120. The tail fell cheaply, but we stumbled over 400.

Then we bowled. Their openers put on over 100, but then a flurry of wickets fell to the spinners, leaving the hosts 115/3 and then 187/5. Two hundred partnerships followed after that, depressingly, and our first innings lead crumbled, and we were left with a deficit of 36. Only 2 of the wickets fell to seamers on the pitch that was rough as anything.

This time, our openers manages to put on 105 in the opening partnership... Which was strange seeing that they didn't manage 100 runs between them in the innings! We then collapsed again to 148/4, but Dwayne succeeded in putting up a competitive total, pretty much singlehandedly. Edwards made 41, and Russell again helped with 37, but it was Bravo who really gave the innings its bang. The Bangladeshis needed 266 to win from just under a day, something we felt was achievable.

3 wickets went in the opening pace spells, 2 to Rampaul and 1 to Russell. This left them 32/3, but Al Hasan and Mahmudullah put on 89 to make a victory look a little unlikely. After that, the wickets really tumbled to Bishoo, and victory was in the end wrapped up within the afternoon session.

Series State - West Indies lead 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award - Dwayne Bravo - I wasn't expecting this to be the man collecting this award... but with his new responsibility at 6, he really shone with twin 70s.
Bowling Award - Devendra Bishoo - 10 wickets in the match, even on a pitch that was spinning as much as a pitch in hell, is worthy of picking up this award.

We had won the last away series, so we have to win this to preserve our ranking points.

Team News - I have confidence in the same side again for the second Test.

[Imager36]

This match went almost exactly as well as expected.



I don't really want to enlarge too much on it, as it was just a tour match. Narine's 10 wickets were impressive, but the pitch was turning so much I could have got some of those guys out with my untrusty leg breaks. The seamers managed a disappointing 1 wicket between them in the 2 innings, and Edwards, Barath and Deonarine were the only batsmen to score well.

Batting Award - Kirk Edwards - A lovely, combative 88 from Edwards gave us a victory chance.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - I don't know what more I can say. The pitch was turning round corners.

Team News - With the pitch again looking like spin is the key, Gayle, Darren, Nash, Dwayne, Russel, Rampaul and Bishoo come in for Simmons, Chanders, Sarwan, Deonarine, Sammy, Permaul and Roach. Kirk Edwards will bat at 3, and the two spinners will hopefully be our main weapons.

[Imager36]

Unfortunately for all involved, our collective luck had run out.



We lost the toss, and were in the unusual position of batting first, and didn't make a very good fist of it. Gayle was out early, as happens, but here the wickets just kept falling. There was a decent early partnership (Barath/Darren), but it was far too slow, and when I tried to push on in the second half of the innings, even more wickets fell. Only Andre Russell saved any face for the West Indies team, coming in at 8, and striking 28 off 20 balls before trying to hit a ball too many. We were bowled out off the final ball of the innings.

127 was never going to be too hard for the Aussies, but a wicket with Russell's 3rd ball kept us interested, but the seamers were hit far too hard, and even by the end of the powerplay, the game was gone. There were other wickets, and the spinners kept it tight and down to the last 2 overs, but it was always a win for the green and gold.

Series State - Australia will play South Africa in the final (Where they lost. HA. HA HA HA. HA HA. HA.)
Batting Award - Andre Russell - Adrian Barath thought he had a look-in for this award, but his innings was a snoozefest.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - His figures were 4-2-9-0. I didn't even mention that in the match report!

Tournament Awards

Batting Award - Shivnarine Chanderpaul - 100 more runs than anyone else in the squad at 212, and a strike rate of almost 127, was instrumental in getting us this far.
Bowling Award - Devendra Bishoo - Consistent throughout the tournament. The only bowler who took more wickets than matches (7) and still had a good economy rate (6.33). Russell was better wicket-wise, and Narine better in terms of economy, but Bishoo had the whole package.

And next up on the West Indies world tour, we have a lovely tour of Bangladesh, starting with a 3 day friendly at Chittagong and 2 test matches. The squad of 18 for these 3 matches is found below.

C. Gayle (OASP)
A. Barath (O)
L. Simmons (KO)
S. Chanderpaul (BAT)
K. Edwards (BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
B. Nash (BAT)
N. Deonarine (ASP)
Dwayne Bravo (ALL)
D. Ramdin (K)
A. Russell (SEAM)
D. Sammy (SEAM)
R. Rampaul (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
K. Roach (SEAM)
V. Permaul (SPIN)

The 7 most likely players to be selected are left out of the practice match, with Gayle, Darren, Nash, Dwayne, Russell, Rampaul and Bishoo those 7. Sarwan captains the side, as a man with infinite knowledge and experience.

[GrahamB]

Good luck against the Aussies!

[Imager36]

Just. Just. Only just.



We lost the toss, but got to bowl first anyway. Jamshed and Hafeez were out early, as Pakistan went to 21/2, but Fawad Alam and Younis Khan then put on a partnership which eventually stretched to 115 runs, and the majority of the innings. The spinners were instrumental in ensuring these two did not put on more in the time, with all 3 bowling their full complements, none of them going for more than 7 runs an over, and Chris Gayle going for only only 15 from his 4 overs. Andre Russell made sure the last over went for only 5 runs and a wicket just to finish it off.

In our chase, we lost wickets regularly. Simmons went without reaching double figures, and Gayle was out for 18 when Afridi came on. Edwards was disappointing, making 12 from 17 balls, and Chanderpaul constructed a nice platform, making his 37 from 34 balls. When he was out, the score became 83/4, and we needed another 59 runs off the final 40 balls of the match. 22 came off the next 10 balls, which was much needed, to take us into the last 5 needing 37. We only managed 4 off the next Hafeez over, and despite taking 8 off the 17th, Hafeez again restricted us to 4 in the 18th, so we needed a total of 21 runs from the final 12 balls. Achievable, yes, but I didn't believe we would. Luckily, however, they left Azam on, and we managed 15 from his last over, needing 6 from the last, and managing after a stumble when Sarwan was out, leaving 3 needed from 2 balls to go through. Dwayne Bravo came in and hit a 4 to win us the match straight away.

Series State - West Indies qualify for the semi-finals, and will face Australia for the second time in the tournament.
Batting Award - Ramnaresh Sarwan - 35 from 22 balls is quite remarkable in such a pressure game, and no doubt won us the match.
Bowling Award - Chris Gayle - A great performance, conceding 15 from his 4 overs, and keeping the Pakistanis pegged back.

Team News - Kirk Edwards is replaced by the classy Adrian Barath, who will open. Simmons shunts back down to 6/7, and Darren and Sarwan move up the order one.

[Alrounder80]

That's some good work from the ICC naming Kallis as Man of the Match when in previous versions it would usually be given to the best performance regardless of the result.

[Imager36]

Well we certainly were until you said that.



We were poor in that game, in terms of both batting and bowling. We bowled first, and the fact that they were 9 wickets down belies the fact that 5 of those wickets went in an absolutely sensational final over to the previously useless Andre Russell. In reality, the bowling was poor throughout, and had those 5 wickets been taken earlier on, we would have restricted the Saffers to a chaseable total.

As it turned out, we hadn't. Gayle went early, as did Chanderpaul. And Edwards. And Darren. From there it was pretty much game over, and despite Simmons using up his good innings for the tournament, in all honesty we got nowhere near the lofty standards that we needed.

Series State - Pakistan, rather excitingly, beat England, meaning that the final qualification place is a straight shoot out between me and them. Otherwise, it would have been on the other match and net run rates and absolutely hideous.
Batting Award - Lendl Simmons - Got his biggish score out of the way, so he can go back to failing without being troubled.
Bowling Award - Devendra Bishoo - I'm sorry, Andre, but your job is to do that in the powerplay too. You were so bad in that I only brought you back for one over at the end on purpose. Don't you DARE look at me like that. Well you can perform from ball one next time, can't you? Yes, I hope you do prove me wrong. Good, I'm glad that's sorted.

Team News - None to report. These guys have just been told to improve. I'm looking at you, Andre.

[GrahamB]

Some impressive results. Your Windies side are a force to be reckoned with.

[Imager36]

A somewhat surprising win against an England team that had the wood on us in their conditions.



They made a great start, as they were 54/0 in the 6th over when Bravo took the wickets of Trott and Bopara in consecutive balls. This slowed the England innings down considerably, and despite a solid partnership of 23 between Cook and Bell, a flurry of 4 wickets soon fell, leaving England at only 78/6 in the 12th over, with a team hattrick at 2 Narine wickets sandwiched the run out of Alastair Cook. Bairstow and Woakes rebuilt at just over a run a ball, and England's good start secured them a still decent total, with us ruing our laxness in letting them get away.

Chris Gayle played his most stereotypical innings to date, getting a 6 and a 4 off the first 2 balls of the innings, and out off the third. Simmons and Edwards soon followed to leave us 25/3, but Chanderpaul, Darren Bravo and, latterly, Sarwan, rebuilt well enough to guide us to our victory target with only 4 wickets lost and 5 balls remaining. Woakes took particular tap in vengeance for his earlier innings.

Series State - South Africa beat Pakistan, and it is likely we will need to win one of our remaining games to progress.
Batting Award - Shivnarine Chanderpaul - 62 not out off 47 balls when chasing 149? Just a classy performance.
Bowling Award - Sunil Narine - Come on? 2 for 12 off four overs? In a T20 match? Against one of the best teams in the world? You're having me on, aren't you?

[Imager36]

We beat the Irish! But not as easily as we'd have liked.



The start we made was phenomenal, having won the toss, As Ireland were soon 16/4 due to Russell, Rampaul and some suspect running. Stirling went soon after, but Cusack and Kevin O'Brien were happy to sit back and milk the spinners, which at that stage we were happy to allow them to do. O'Brien got out near the end to Gayle, and Murtagh tried to force the issue but was also out, leaving Boyd Rankin to face 6 balls, off which he managed 2 runs. 145 seemed a target we should get against this bowling line-up.

Lendl Simmons made an attacking start and then got out, but Gayle never really got going, mustering 26 from 26, with only one boundary. Chanderpaul hit the only 6 of the innings before he departed, and Kirk Edwards was bowled by newgen Martin Cook off a no ball before he entered double figures. His 37 in the end came off 25 balls, and pretty much secured our victory. Darren Bravo scored 24 off 18, and Sarwan and Smith came in and finished the job off professionally.

Series State - West Indies progress to the Super 8, to face England, South Africa and Pakistan, in that order.
Batting Award - Kirk Edwards - Top scored, and pretty much secured the victory.
Bowling Award - Andre Russell - Two wickets, went for under 6 an over, made minnows look like minnows.

Team News - Dwayne Smith loses his place to Dwayne Bravo, in the world's first Dwayneswap.

[Imager36]

Thanks And we did a lot better than I was expecting against the Aussies!



They won the toss, but I would have bowled anyway They got off to a good start, Warner and Watson thrashing around Russell, Rampaul and Smith inside the powerplay overs. Narine did not show the control he has previously, but Bishoo was very effective in his 4 overs, and Gayle was in his 3, which shows how useful a player he is for us. 165/4 was a total we felt we at least had a hope at chasing.

Gayle and Smith both went early, but Chanderpaul and Edwards re-built perfectly, and with 3 overs left of our innings, they had accelerated to need 30 more runs. They got 5 off the first 3 balls of a Marsh over, but Edwards spooned one up to Hussey. Russell was drafted in at 5 to try and give the firepower required, but wickets kept falling, and we ended up 7 runs short.

Series State - Series? Well, in our group, the result in the early match means it's a straight shoot out between us and Ireland.
Batting Award - Shivnarine Chanderpaul - Controlled the innings, and had he stayed to the end, we may have just sneaked home.
Bowling Award - Devendra Bishoo - Controlled the Aussies for his 4 overs, and took the wickets of the dangerous Warner and David Hussey.

Team News - No changes to the line up per se, but Simmons and Dwayne Smith swap places, so I have an option for power hitting down the order.

[Alrounder80]

We play the Aussies first, and for that match, the players to miss out from the squad of 15 are Barath, Dwayne Bravo, Pollard and Roach.

Pollard and Bravo aren't really as highly rated as they should be :/

Anyways, well played against New Zealand!

[Imager36]

The draw we wanted, but it was hard to come by.



This time, we won the toss and batted first, and this time, Gayle made it to 200 and beyond. His innings in this test was far more commanding, including a grand total of 28 boundaries, of which one 6 pulled off Bracewell was particularly memorable. Until Darren Bravo came in, the other batsmen seemed content to let him take control, with none of the other top 5 batsmen making above 27, despite the score being 164 when that 4th wicket fell. The 5th wicket partnership was worth 184 on its own, as Gayle slowed his scoring slightly, but Bravo pushed on, and fell just before his own ton. Dwayne came and went, but Ramdin stuck around with Gayle, making 41 off only 57 balls. Gayle was out not long after him, and the innings was soon over.

New Zealand's top order once again looked fragile, as they crumbled to 40/3, Rampaul doing much of the damage. Then, in the final over of the day, Dwayne Bravo injured his back, and we were facing playing the rest of the test with not a 4 man attack, but a 3 man one. We struggled from then on, removing Taylor and Brownlie after they had done damage, but the big, lasting partnership was between the set Williamson and Brendon McCullum, and it lasted for a grand total of 228 runs. Eventually, it was over, both men were removed, and the only thing blocking me from sanity was a 9th wicket partnership of 69 between Franklin and Bracewell.

As leader of a fragile national side, I realised the situation we were in was perilous. When pace had done for the top order, and we were 69/3, it seemed even more so. Kirk Edwards played a blinder, and to be honest saved us the series with his 167 from 302 balls. Nash hung around for a while for his 38, and Darren Bravo pretty much guaranteed his place in the next test team with his second 50 in as many innings. Dwayne was absent hurt, and Ramdin was out early, but Andre Russell hung around for 70 more balls and 30 runs, just to make sure of the draw, leaving New Zealand needing around 350 runs in 2 and a half sessions.

They barely bothered to chase, and I don't see why we couldn't have just called the test match a draw at that point.

Series State - West Indies win the series 1-0
Batting Award - Chris Gayle/Kirk Edwards - Both the innings were 'daddy' hundreds, and really saved us the match, and kept us in it, on both occasions. You can't pick between them.
Bowling Award - Ravi Rampaul - 6 wickets in the match, a thoroughly professional, workman like performance.

Series Awards

Batting - Chris Gayle - It had to be, really, didn't it? 448 runs in 4 innings, with one of those innings worth 1? You can't argue with that.

Bowling - Ravi Rampaul - Consistent throughout the 2 tests, impressive in the 3 man attack in the second.

Well that was unspeakably easy.

Next upppp... we have the Twenty:20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Gosh, that'll be fun! Here follows the squad for said tournament.

C. Gayle (OASP)
A. Barath (O)
D. Smith (OAR)
S. Chanderpaul (BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
K. Edwards (BAT)
K. Pollard (ALL)
L. Simmons (OK)
Dwayne Bravo (ALL)
A. Russell (ALL)
R. Rampaul (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)
D. Bishoo (SPIN)
K. Roach (SEAM)

Well that looks fun, doesn't it? We're in a group with Australia and Ireland, and the match between those two happened first. This is how it, unsurprisingly, finished.



The dangerous Warner was in flying form, but, interestingly, none of his Australian friends really joined him in that.

We play the Aussies first, and for that match, the players to miss out from the squad of 15 are Barath, Dwayne Bravo, Pollard and Roach. Gayle and Smith are to open, with Simmons down to come in at 7, and Rampaul skippering the side.