Heroes Day heroics by Chris Gayle
Gayle on the go in his explosive innings.
AP photo
by Siddarth Monga, CRICINFO
On a beautiful sunny day at Arnos Vale and ona pitch that offered good bounce the Zimbabwe
batsmen found the going too tough….Read more…
On a beautiful sunny day at Arnos Vale and on a pitch that offered good bounce,
the Zimbabwe batsmen found the going too tough, and managed another below-par
total that was chased not without huff and puff despite Chris Gayle’s explosive
start. But for a fighting fifty from Charles Coventry, who was inexplicably left
out of the XIs so far, Zimbabwe would have struggled to get past even 100.
Gayle started St Vincent’s National Heroes’ Day celebrations in earnest with an
onslaught at the start of the chase, but in a bizarre collapse the West Indies
middle order managed to wipe the smiles off the faces of the partying crowd.
Gayle smacked a 41-ball 63 out of the 96 runs scored while he was in the middle,
but the next three batsmen threw their wickets away, bringing Zimbabwe right
back in at 104 for 5. Keiron Pollard, though, came in and struck two fours and
two sixes in eight balls to bring the smiles back.
It shouldn’t even have gone close after the way the Zimbabwe batsmen
capitulated. What will hurt Zimbabwe, who are aiming for a Test return, is that
the failure came on a day Kemar Roach was rested. There was no disconcerting
seam movement either, just good carry. In their fast bowler’s absence, Darren
Sammy and Ravi Rampaul produced the wicket-taking deliveries to leave Zimbabwe
in tatters at 25 for 5. The fifth wicket fell in the 16th over, by which time
Zimbabwe had hit just one boundary, and had failed to score off 87 deliveries -
25 of them at a stretch. None of the top five reached double-figures, and
Zimbabwe were flirting with their own record for the lowest total in ODIs – 35.
As soon as Hamilton Masakadza fell without troubling the scorers, Zimbabwe were
looking at a long struggle. Even before Masakadza top-edged Rampaul while
pulling a delivery slightly too full, another important blow had been struck by
Dave Bernard. Bowling a free-hit in the first over of the innings, Bernard hit
Vusi Sibanda in the right glove, and since then Sibanda’s 49-ball stay for eight
runs was painful in more ways than one.
Sibanda and Timycen Maruma shut shop like it was a national holiday, and went
more than four overs without scoring a run. When they did get a run, though,
there was no time for celebrations. Four balls later, Rampaul got Maruma to edge
one that bounced at him. At 11 for 1 after eight overs, Brendan Taylor brought
some intent to the middle, even managing a boundary in the 13th over,
off-driving a Dwayne Bravo half-volley, but Sammy pushed them back further.
In the next over, he removed the two keepers, Taylor and Tatenda Taibu. Taylor
was dismissed by a full delivery that moved in ever so slightly, and Taibu by
one that shot up. Sibanda followed the exodus, pulling Sammy to deep square leg.
Elton Chigumbura, easily Zimbabwe’s most confident batsman on the tour, started
to loosen the shackles with a 23-ball 19, and Coventry carried on, accelerating
from 21 off 42 to end up with 57 off 88. Chigumbura became the first man to go
past single-figures, but he cut Pollard’s first delivery into point’s lap.
Along with Greg Lamb, Coventry added 57 for the seventh wicket. The fast bowlers
were taken off, scoring became easier, and both batted sensibly. It took a
freakish bit of work from Bravo to get rid of Coventry: off his own bowling, he
kicked the ball from almost short cover to hit the stumps direct. With eight
wickets gone in 42.1 overs, there wasn’t much the tail could do.
When he came out for the chase, Gayle waited for about four overs and Adrian
Barath’s wicket before he opened up. For the first time on the tour, Zimbabwe
were forced to take Ray Price out of the attack. Finally Gayle had got the
better of him, and also hit the successful Chigumbura out of the attack.
Gayle cut, drove and lofted with aplomb; one of his two sixes nearly made it to
the nearby airport’s parking lot. When he holed out going for a third six, he
had left the rest 62 runs to get in 34.4 overs. Then came the West Indies twist:
the Bravo brothers got stumped and Narsingh Deonarine hit straight down
long-off’s throat. Pollard, though, went on to provide merit to the price bid
for him in the IPL by striking big and clean, and scoring 36 off 20 balls to
finish the match with 22.2 overs to spare.
Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at
Cricinfo