The Golden Isles - A Third Time Lucky West Indies Story

[Imager36]

Yeah... this game annoyed me. I won't do a report because I played it ages ago, but I'll give some arbitrary awards!

Series State	Australia lead the series 1-0 with 2 to play
Batting Award	Adrian Barath - Cracking first innings performance
Bowling Award	Kev McClean - Nice of him to turn up for their first innings.
Team News	A test without a wicket doesn't cut the mustard. Brathwaite out for Matthew.

[Imager36]

A fairly easy win, by T20 standards.



We won the toss and got to bowl first - and a wicket first ball set us on our way. With brilliant bowling from all four seamers, we managed to reduce them 46/4. A good, but slow partnership between Serasinghe and Silva managed to resurrect the innings against the spin bowlers, but the seamers returned to finish the job off well and keep it below 140.

We started badly, with Simmo and Alford getting out for 7 and 11 respectively. Darren and Pollard though put on 56 to get us right back in front. Only needing about 6 an over after Darren's cameo (31 from 17), Shane Burton came in and hit 15 from 12, and Mike Paul got 17 from 13 balls unbeaten as we waltzed to victory with 15 balls to spare.

Series State	West Indies lead the series 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Kieron Pollard - His 31 from 17 put us well in front of the run rate and won.
Bowling Award	Mike Alford - 2/21 from his 4 overs... he's not normally that good!
Team News	None, good performance all round!

Another easyish victory was recorded, after a great bowling performance.



Again we started brilliantly, with 2 wickets each from Brathwaite and one for Mike Alford leaving Sri Lanka totally reeling at 29/5. A partnership of 32 between Silva and Prassad at least threatened to revive them a little bit, but the last few wickets fell quickly to to Narine, and the last to Alford to stamp them out rather for 87.

He was, however, out to his first ball, and Bravo to his second, which left us badly placed at 5/2. Chasing the low total though, we had time to rebuild, and partnerships between Simmons and Pollard and Burton made sure we got over the line in one piece... well, after they'd all been out alongside Paul.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0.
Batting Award	None awarded... the bowling went so well no-one had to bat well though!
Bowling Award	Matthew/Alford/Narine - First multi-award for a while, but they all deserve it. Economical and deadly.

So next up, the West Indies are off to Australia. First up, we play 3 test matches, and here is the 18 man squad that will contest that series...

A. Barath (O)
S. Barrington (O)
L. Simmons (O/K)
S. Burton (O/BAT)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (VC)
M. Alford (ALL)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
M. Paul (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
D. Benjamin (ALL)
M. Browne (K)
K. Stoute (ALL)
C. Brathwaite (ALL)
I. Khan (ASP)
D. Sammy (SEAM)
M. Matthew (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

Okay, our first test is the Boxing Day test, so that works rather well, doesn't it? I'll probably play it tomorrow, but still. Here is your XI for that match.

A. Barath
S. Burton
D. Bravo
M. Alford
K. Edwards (C)
M. Paul
M. Browne (K)
K. Stoute
C. Brathwaite
K. McClean
S. Narine

So a suprisingly late test match début for Mike Paul, who at the age of 25, has played 46 limited over matches for us and has an FC average of almost 41 (which is actually very good in the West Indies). He is also in form at the moment, so we shall see how he does batting at 6.

[Imager36]

An easyish win from a fairly poor position.



We made a poor start. Despite McClean taking both the openers wickets inside the first 10 overs, the second ten were less successful... Much less so. They went for a massive 85 runs, with Alford and Stoute taking the majority of the damage. After those dreadful times, we put on both of the spinners, and they were instant successes! In their TWENTY overs, they went for a combined total of FIFTY-THREE runs. And there were 3 wickets with that, as well. McClean and Brathwaite came back for the final few overs, and did well to limit the opposition to under 5 runs an over for the innings.

We started slowly, and still not that well, with Simmons falling cheaply, and Bravo too. Pollard hit 20 from a partnership of 23 with Barath, but was then caught on his crease but Wijesena. Then began though, la resistance. Barath and Burton put on a partnership of 63, but even when Barath eventually fell for 67 from 87 balls, we needed about 7 an over. Alford was out first ball, which didn't help, but then we really started. A couple of cameos by Stoute and Khan put us back in contention, and it was the partnership between Burton and Brathwaite that won us the match. 68, unbeaten, including 36* from 28 balls from Carlos. Burton's 71* came from 87 balls, and his composure in tricky situations won us the match.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-1.
Batting Award	Shane Burton - Top scored, and took us to victory.
Bowling Award	Imran Khan - 2/23 from his 10. Top notch.
Squad News	No changes made for the 2 T20Is
Team News	Matthew & Paul in for McClean & Barath. Alford opens, Paul down at 6.

[Imager36]

Much better - It's like a different team, really.



We won the toss this time, so we got to bowl first, and it paid immediate dividends when Faumi was caught LBW first ball by Brathwaite. After 3 good partnerships though, 2 of which involved Chandimal. Then it went from 137/3 to 137/8 in a brilliant period of play that really won the match for us, including a team hattrick off the bowling of Imran Khan. From there it was disappointing that we weren't able to get rid of them cheaply, but eventually those last two wickets fell and we still had well under 200 to chase.

And chase it we did. The opening partnership was worth 76 (Barath 44, Simmons 38), and despite a hiccup then reducing us to a dangerous 103/3, an unbroken stand of 79 between Pollard and Burton (43* each) led us over the line.

Series State	West Indies and Sri Lanka are level at 1-1 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Kieron Pollard - Good to see him back, scored his mid 40s score quicker than the others.
Bowling Award	Imran Khan - Not the more economical of the 3 wicket bowlers, but his 3 wicket maiden won the match, all told.
Team News	None needed, none made.

[Imager36]

A shoddy lower order batting performance that probably cost us a match.



We lost the toss and were put in to bat first up. Simmons and Barath could only manage 31 as an opening partnership, with Simmons getting 20 of those before he was out. Darren Bravo fell for 2 to reinforce our misery, but the next partnership involved Kieron Pollard and Barath, with Pollard decidedly in his shell, scoring 22 from 40 balls, and Barath making the rest of the partnership of 75! He hasn't been himself this year so far, Kieron, and even after that tour match performance looks shaky. Shane Burton only made 1, but Mike Alford came out with purpose and started hitting the ball cleanly. He and Barath put on 54 nicely, but this came to an abrupt end when Barath was run out for 96 from 113 balls, agonisingly 4 short of his second ODI hundred. Alford pressed on though, alongside Stoute and Khan, but fell in the 44th over, 44 from 55 balls his score. The lower order were abysmal, and the bottom five's scores added together were 13. With Narine not out. Dreadful, if I'm honest.

Faumi was out first this time, but Mathews still managed a mammoth partnership, this time 116 with Perera. After this had been ended, wickets fell to Narine and Brathwaite, but it was somewhat too little too late, as they cruised to victory with 11 balls to spare.

Series State	Sri Lanka lead 1-0 with 2 to play.
Batting Award	Adrian Barath - 96 from an opener is always a good set for the rest of the team.
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - 2/25 from 10 overs. Pretty good, kept us in the game for sure.
Team News	Expensive for 2 games in a row, Matthew is replaced with McClean.

[Imager36]

Rushed through this a bit, but won easily enough.



Things we learnt from that tour match:-

• Only Matthew and Benji from the 6 bowlers were expensive.
• Singha were quite a poor team, with only 1 international, and him having played only 6 matches.
• Kieron Pollard helped himself to get back among the runs.
• Burton was playing nicely until Pollard ran him out!
• Pollard and Burton put on a partnership of 111.

That's all. Changes for the first ODI are that Paul, Benji, McClean and Russell drop out for the returning players. Could be fun.

[Imager36]

The first 3 innings were pretty much the same. Luckily, the 4th differed.



We won the toss (again) and chose to bat (again). Barrington fell early this time, but Barath managed an uptempo 51 before he, too, departed, leaving Darren Bravo in the teens and the score on 72/2. Alford made it only as far as 20, Edwards improved on that and reached 38, in a partnership of 69, but it was Burton and Browne, alongside the imposing Bravo, who helped us to a really good score. Burton's aggressive 46 helped put the Sri Lankan bowlers on the back foot, and then Browne's 70 just frustrated them a little longer. Darren Bravo was eventually out for 149, his 9th test match ton, but Browne fought on with the tail, and dragged us over 420.

Wickets, thankfully, came regularly enough in the Sri Lankan innings. They batted well enough, of course, but the 100+ partnerships were gone, instead replaced by a string of 2 figure ones, including a majestic 78 between... you guessed it, Faumi and Mathews. Keeper Gavan Jabbar was once again in resistive mood, with his 78 helping keep Sri Lanka in the game, but he didn't get the support he needed to get to a century, or close to our score, so we once again had a first innings lead, although this time a lower one of around 80.

We attacked from the off, with 7 sessions left in the match, but apart from Barath's top order 44, struggled to get going and lost wickets. 133/5. Burton out. Browne to the crease again. Another 2nd innings partnership with Edwards, again raising the bar in terms of 6th wicket partnerships in the career, of 117 runs. Browne with another 50, exactly, his 5th in 12 tests and his 4th in 4 innings on this tour. Now there is form for you. All of which meant that, after a couple of smacks from Stoute, we were able to declare at Tea on Day 4 again, this time setting a target of just over 350.

Thankfully, history failed to repeat itself any further. Wickets fell early to spin, and after a fantastic partnership between Perera and Silva, the second new ball was on hand, and Stoute and Brathwaite disposed of the rest of the order within 7 overs. Series drawn. No points won, no points lots, plenty of confidence gained.

Series State	West Indies and Sri Lanka draw the series 1-1.
Batting Award	Darren Bravo - 149 in the first innings, helped set up the win.
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - Only 5 wickets in the match, but all of them top order scalps.

So, on we move again... this time, a 3 match ODI series against Sri Lanka, and first up, a tour match against Singha. Squad follows. It shows our settled batting line-up and unsettled bowling pack.

A. Barath (O)
L. Simmons (O/K)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (C)
K. Pollard (BAT)
S. Burton (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
M. Alford (ALL)
D. Benjamin (ALL)
K. Stoute (ALL)
A. Russell (ALL)
I. Khan (ASP)
C. Brathwaite (SEAM)
M. Matthew (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

And for the tour match against Singha, Bravo, Stoute, Khan and Brathwaite miss out, and are almost guaranteed picks for the first ODI. The batting order is weird and complex, and Barath once again captains the West Indians XI.

[Imager36]

When I declared with 4 sessions to go, I was not expecting this...



Start at the start. We won the toss and batted, and batted rather well. The openers put on 96 for the first wicket, and Barrington reached his first test 50 exactly, before hewing one to mid off. A couple more quick wickets followed, and when we were left at 154/5, we got the feeling this tour might be difficult. Two brilliant partnerships involving the wicket keeper put a stop to those thoughts though. First up, he put on 117 with new number 6 Shane Burton, which was actually the highest Test partnership for the 6th wicket I've had on this game! After Burton had departed for 75, Browne put on another 120 with Kev Stoute! In this partnership, Stoute was definitely in control, and the aggressor on so many fronts. Browne's innings was dogged, but he could not hold it together for quite long enough, as he was caught at mid off off the débutante 19 year old medium pacer Siwar de Seram. Brathwaite held around a bit while Stoute piled on more runs, but Matthew and Narine got out in double quick time, and Stoute was left stranded, also falling just short of his first test century.

Their first innings also went well for us. Despite a hundred partnership between Faumi and Mathews early on, we managed to get them down to 148/4, and never really looked back from there. Jabbar also resisted for a fair while, but was eventually caught behind off the bowling of Matthew, and the tail crumbled to a combination of Alford and Narine to leave us with a lead of over 150, and a good chance at victory!

Barath fell early for 3, but Barrington (25), Bravo (51) and Alford (31) battled back to keep us ticking over, and well in front of the Lankans. When Shane Burton was out after what was a rather fun innings of 15, the keeper came in and helped us to buckle down again. An unbeaten partnership of 89 between him and Captain Kirk was exactly what we needed, and as Browne reached his 3rd test 50 on the stroke of tea on the 4th day, we decided to declare, with the lead having nudged over 400.

What happened next was... ridiculous. The openers put on 116, followed by another 144 from that Faumi/Mathews combination. Just when we thought we might be making breakthroughs, as Faumi and Serasinghe fell quickly, Mathews put on another century partnership, this time 104 with Perera. Brathwaite got his wicket eventually, and Stoute removed Jabbar, but it was all too late and Sri Lanka had gobbled up 400 like we'd asked them to chase 150.

Series State	Sri Lanka lead the series 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Max Browne - An unlikely batting hero, but just under 150 runs in the test.
Bowling Award	Sunil Narine - He took 5 wickets. Yeah. Best of a bad bunch of figures.
Team News	On a dustier pitch, Imran Khan replaces Merv Matthew.

[Imager36]

Well, that was eventful... not...



Things we learnt from that friendly:

• When it rains here, it pours. Day 2 was a complete washout!
• Sinhalese are nice. They declared first thing on Day 3 to let us bat a bit.
• Sinhalese are quite good. 6 of their XI had played international cricket.
• None of the quicks did that well. The pick was actually Benjamin's 2/36 from 12 overs.
• Barrington can score. His 131 came in 279 balls and for me was the stand-out.
• Sylvester didn't take his chance.

So, bearing all those pointers in mind, here is the XI for the first test against the Sri Lankans... if it's all the same to you I'll rattle that one off tonight as well!

A. Barath
S. Barrington
D. Bravo
M. Alford
K. Edwards (C)
S. Burton
M. Browne
K. Stoute
C. Brathwaite
M. Matthew
S. Narine

Lovely. So the things to watch are Barrington, Burton batting at 6, Alford at 4 against a good attack and Matthew keeping his place. Cheers then!

[Imager36]

A squeaky win, but a win nonetheless. (Forgot to save the image, but you'll never know. )



We started badly, with Simmons gone quickly, and Burton only a couple of overs later, leaving us 14/2. Kieron Pollard only managed to survive 6 balls to get 5, but Darren Bravo had decided to control the strike so much the partnership was worth 32 and brought us back from the brink! Paul was out for 1, leaving us having more pain again at 51/4. Mike Alford played a good innings from trouble, hitting 20 from 18 balls, but first out was Darren, with his 41 from 30 balls definitely the best innings for us. At 91/7, we looked like we were severely struggling, but Stoute and Brathwaite hit a quickfire partnership of 36 to pull the innings out of the fire and set us up with a decent total to defend.

We bowled well. Stoute and Matthew got a wicket apiece early on to reduce them to 19/2. Waller was also out quickly to leave 37/3, but Chigumbura and Kidwell put on a partnership that we thought may lead to a Zimbabwean win. 61, in a low-scoring game such as this, is always crucial. There was to be no victory for them though. Mervin Matthew cameback to bowl 2 of the last 3 overs, and disposed of the lower order, not letting them score either. Narine had already got rid of Kidwell, and Chigumbura just couldn't get them over the line.

Series State	West Indies lead the series 1-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Darren Bravo - 41 from 30 balls, looked like he was playing on a different pitch to all the other batsmen!
Bowling Award	Mervin Matthew - Bowling at the death is always tricky, but Mervin did it to perfection, getting wickets and not conceding anything much.
Team News	Unchanged team.

A much more comfortable victory, and a much better batting performance.



Again losing the toss and being put in, Burton went early for 11, leaving us 15/1 in the 2nd over. Simmons and Bravo picked things up, with their partnership of 38 doing wonders for us, but it was over too soon. When it was, with Simmons wicket, Darren followed soon after, and the unreliable Pollard and Paul didn't last any longer, leaving us 78/5 and in trouble again. Luckily, a rookie and someone who is fast becoming world class saved us. A 69 partnership between the aggressive Benjamin (43 from 31) and Alford (32 from 26) made us feel like we should win the match, and although Benji was out in the very last over, the job was already done, and we had a score approaching 150.

We came out of the blocks brilliantly, with a team hattrick in the second over, where LBWs for Kev Stoute were split by a run out of Brendan Taylor to leave the struggling Zimbabweans at 11/4. When Waller went for 14 that became 35/5, but a couple of partnerships including tiny keeper Taibu lifted them to 102/6, but they couldn't get over the line as the seamers returned.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0.
Batting Award	Dean Benjamin - 43 from 31 balls, revived our innings and made sure the win wasn't in doubt.
Bowling Award	Kevin Stoute - 3 for 21, the team hat-trick meant we got an amazing start to the innings and won easily.

So next up, a full tour of Sri Lanka! Lovely. We have a 3 day tour match first, so some selections to the 18 man squad have been made so that they can play in that!

A. Barath (O)
S. Burton (O/BAT)
S. Barrington (O)
Darren Bravo (BAT) (VC)
M. Alford (ALL)
K. Edwards (BAT) (C)
S. Burton (BAT)
M. Paul (BAT)
R. Sarwan (BAT)
G. Sylvester (BAT)
D. Benjamin (ALL)
M. Browne (K)
K. Stoute (ALL)
C. Brathwaite (ALL)
I. Khan (SPIN)
D. Sammy (SEAM)
M. Matthew (SEAM)
K. McClean (SEAM)
S. Narine (SPIN)

And for that tour match we rest most of our test regulars, with the team looking a little like this...

A. Barath (C)
S. Barrington
S. Burton
G. Sylvester
M. Paul
D. Benjamin
M. Browne (K)
I. Khan
D. Sammy
M. Matthew
K. McClean

With the exception of Sarwan, those left out are very likely to appear in the first test. That means that Sammy, Matthew and McClean are fighting it out for one spot in the bowling line up.

[Imager36]

Never get overconfident, kids.



Bothwell Chapungu hit his 3rd ODI half century, and with it made Zimbabwe a decent total... however, with efforts from Matthew and Imran Khan proving particularly effective in the bowling effort, it should have been in no way insurmountable.

After a partnership of 72 between Alford and Burton, taking us up to 133/3, it looked like we would stroll to victory... they had other ideas, however, removing both the set batsmen, and then not letting anyone else get settled at all. Paul, Stoute and Hinds all failed in trying to dig in and nudge us over the line, which is disappointing. Next up, 2 T20Is against the same opponent, which I will also rush through a bit!

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-1
Batting Award	Shane Burton - Showed some skill before getting out too early.
Bowling Award	Mervin Matthew - His best performance of the series. Shows promise.
Squad News	Dwayne Bravo and young all-rounder Dean Benjamin come in for Barath and Kev McClean

S. Burton
L. Simmons (K)
Darren Bravo (C)
K. Pollard
M. Paul
M. Alford
D. Benjamin
K. Stoute
C. Brathwaite
M. Matthew
S. Narine

Because, in all honesty, where better to properly blood a new player than in T20s against Zimbabwe?

[Imager36]

They aren't much better when they bat first...



We knocked over both the openers pretty sharpish, but a partnership of 70 between Waller and Kidwell threatened to lift them to a decent total, even though they were getting on with it slower than snails. When Imran Khan broke that partnership though, it became a bit of a free-for-all, with Matthew grabbing a couple of quick wickets and Stoute smashing 4 to limit Zimbabwe to 178, with 3 balls unbatted.

The openers put on 83, but the ball after Barath went for 46, Bravo was out for a golden duck at the hands of Chigumbura. Kieron Pollard was stodgy, but battling out of his slight slump this year after a brilliant season last year, and Shane Burton hit 6 boundaries in his 34 as we chased the total with over 6 overs in the tank. Mike Alford also made 6 not out.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0 with 1 to play.
Batting Award	Lendl Simmons - 58 from 87, a well-paced half century.
Bowling Award	Kevin Stoute - 10 overs, 4/31. Not too shabby, Kev.
Team News	With the series won, Paul and Hinds come in for Pollard and Narine. Alford bats at 4.

[Imager36]

Nice Test win over my team! No doubt you'll beat them in the ODI's as well bless them!

Haha, thanks... I always prefer a fair fight, but never mind!

This result was actually in doubt for a while, but it ends up looking comfortable...



We won the toss and batted, and our start was solid, if not spectacular. The openers put on 41 in about 13 overs, but then Darren B came in and started livening things up, including hitting a straight 6 from his first ball! Simmons was still being slow though, although the pair of them put on 69 in another 13ish overs before Darren opened up a little too much and was bowled by Chigumbura for 42 from 44 balls. Pollard hit 12 from 18 but was quickly undone, and when Simmons decided to up the tempo he was stumped for 56 from 102. The rest of the innings was a succession of bit-parts, getting us up to a positive total. Burton got 18 before his cameo was over, Alford 22, Stoute 17 (from 15, run out) and Russell 13 from just 6 balls. The 9th wicket partnership was impressive though, 36 runs, of which number 10 Matthew scored 21 from 12 balls. Imran Khan added to his previous tally to make a career best 31* from 27 balls, and we had a good total on our hands.

As I have mentioned though, it was in no way plain sailing from there. The seam bowlers were not the most economical bunch, and Kevin Stoute, despite taking 2 early innings wickets, was particularly bad, going for over 7.5 an over in his 5. 4 good partnerships saw Zimbabwe, after 25 overs, 150/3, and looking like they would stroll to their victory target at 4 runs an over. Imran Khan, however, had other ideas. He tied the Zimbas down, and then in knots, taking 4 wickets in his last 4 overs to make sure the middle order couldn't hit out at the target, and the tail would have to try. Matthew and Alford returned, and took a wicket apiece to put the game to bed, and the series at 1-0.

Series State	West Indies lead the series 1-0, with 2 matches to play.
Batting Award	Darren Bravo - Decent score, good strike rate. More of a team effort.
Bowling Award	Imran Khan - Tied them up, then knocked them over. The traditional tactic.
Team News	Carlos Brathwaite comes in for Andre Russell in a rotational move.

[KieranA91]

Nice Test win over my team! No doubt you'll beat them in the ODI's as well bless them!

[Imager36]

A more regulation victory, despite only Brathwaite of the replacements looking the part.



We won the toss, and I batted, of course. Burton run out Barrington, his potential enemy, for one, but got out for 25 himself, not really doing himself any favours. However, the next partnership, between Darren (92) and Mike Alford (73) was worth 146, and was rather good. Alford's knock came from 110 balls, and for a test in this series, that is remarkably quick. When they were both out though, Kirk Edwards also made some runs. Blackwood on debut stuck around but only made 16, and all the rest were around for just long enough that we could build a total of 360, which would seem like a good total on that track.

Matthew got a quick wicket of Chapungu, but Taylor and Kidwell stuck around to put on 101 and seem to threaten our lead. After another partnership of 27 though, there wasn't one higher than 14 for the rest of the innings. Alford and Narine took a couple of wickets each, but again it was Kevin Stoute who was the stand-out, taking 4/50 from among the middle order and tail.

We came back out to bat straight away in order to set a target, and were in trouble at 64/3 with the openers and Alford gone. The next partnership allayed our fears though, 215 runs between Darren Bravo and Kirk Edwards, who both scored tonnes, their 8th and 13th respectively in tests. We kept batting after they were both out, for a bit of fun, but we kept losing wickets. Never mind. When we declared, with 5 sessions left in the match, we led by 487 runs. Which we felt would be enough.

Thankfully, it was. There isn't much to say about the last innings of the match, it was a bit of a walkover, and with 3 wickets each for Matthew and Brathwaite, 2 for Narine, and 1 each for Stoute and Alford. Chipare and Taibu resisted a bit... but not really very much. A win by 332 runs. Not bad.

Series State	West Indies win the series 2-0.
Batting Award	Darren Bravo - One almost century, one completed one. Nice going Dazza.
Bowling Award	Kevin Stoute - Was really a team bowling effort, but he did best in the crucial first innings.

Okay, so next up we have 3 ODIs against the same opponent. Pollard, Paul and Hinds come into the squad, Barrington, Blackwood, Sarwan, Browne, Sammy and Edwards go out of it. I'll list the XI for the first ODI below, or it'll get confusing.

A. Barath
L. Simmons (K)
Darren Bravo (C)
K. Pollard
S. Burton
M. Alford
K. Stoute
A. Russell
I. Khan
M. Matthew
S. Narine