– Shivnarine Chanderpaul made West Indians believe in miracles by scoring 10 runs off the last two balls of a pulsating first One-day International against Sri Lanka at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad yesterday
By Garth Wattley
Do you believe in miracles?
The hardy souls in the Concrete Stand were hoping hard in Shivnarine Chanderpaul with two balls left in yesterday’s first Digicel One-day International against Sri Lanka at the Queen’s Park Oval.
“Let’s go Chanders, let’s go! Let’s go Chanders, let’s go!” they pleaded, as Chaminda Vaas ran in with the penultimate ball of the match and West Indies still 10 runs short of victory.
Four!
The mid-off fielder has no chance as Chanderpaul strokes the ball firmly down the ground to the pavilion.
“Let’s go Chanders, let’s go!”
Next ball, Vaas aims for a full delivery but sends down a full toss. Chanderpaul, eyes wide, swings hard and sure. Captain Mahela Jayawardene, hands poised in anticipation on the midwicket boundary watches and watches the soaring missile, waiting for it to land. It drops behind him onto the green wire fencing. Umpire Clyde Duncan raises both hands signalling six, even as Chanderpaul raises his and races toward Fidel Edwards.
In near disbelief they head off the ground, leaving stands full of dizzy West Indians jumping up and down hailing their miracle worker.
Victory had been snatched at the death by one wicket.
Man-of-the-Match adjudicator Larry Gomes made Dwayne Bravo his player of the game for his ODI best haul of four for 32 which had restricted Sri Lanka first to 49 for five and then 235 for seven in their 50 overs.
Bravo was indeed one of the principals in a game of dramatic twists and turns. But so very much were Sri Lanka’s middle order pair of Chamaras —Kapugedera and Silva — whose new Sri Lanka sixth wicket ODI record stand of 159 had revived their side’s innings and the match.
But surely, `Chanders’ could have snatched Gomes’s vote for not just those last gasp blows but an unbeaten innings of 62 off 63 balls (five fours, one six) which in the end, decided the contest.
His fifth wicket partnership of 59 with Bravo (36, 37 balls, three fours, two sixes) had put West Indies back on course after they had been rocked by the loss of captain Chris Gayle (52, eight fours, one six), vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan (35, four fours) and Marlon Samuels in the space of one run.
Ajantha Mendis (10-1-39-3), a finger-spinner with exciting variety and control in the mould of Muttiah Muralitharan, removed the skipper lbw, while new ball bowler Nuwan Kulasekara took care of Sarwan via a catch to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara and Samuels, also lbw.
Suddenly, for the second time in the game, West Indies had gone from a position of control to one of struggle at 110 for four in the 28th over.
There had not been much sign of the bacchanal to come when Gayle and Devon Smith had added 53 for the first wicket in 13.3 overs before Smith was lbw to Kulasekara for 13.
The West Indies’s positive start continued via the second wicket stand of 56 between Gayle and Sarwan. Then came the slump. Followed by the Bravo/Chanderpaul revival. Followed by another decline.
The crowd was becoming used to the up and down rhythm of this match.
From the Sri Lanka innings, things had been this way.
For the third innings in a row, a Sri Lankan collapse was halted by the sixth wicket partnership.
This time, Kapugedera and Silva dragged their side to a competitive 208 for six before they were separated.
It was an outstanding effort, especially by the 21-year-old Kapugedera. Playing in his 30th ODI, he produced his highest score—95 (117 balls, seven fours, three sixes). His timing could not have been better.
Sent in to bat by Gayle after he had won the toss on an overcast morning, Sri Lanka’s top order batsmen struggled badly against the Windies seamers.
Bravo was their chief tormentor.
Introduced as first change in place of Jerome Taylor in the seventh over, Bravo removed Upul Tharanga, Jayawardene and Dilshan in successive overs—his third through fifth.
Those three wickets added to the two which opening bowlers Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor got.
With his third ball of the match, Edwards produced one of his in-swinging yorker specials which flattened debutant Mahela Udawatte’s off-stump: two for one. That was in the second over.
Eight overs later, Taylor, delivered from well inside the popping crease, and Sangakkara, having perhaps to wait a second longer to go for the drive, found Bravo at point.
The growing crowd in the Oval may have been anticipating unused overs in the Sri Lankan innings because of a swift dismissal.
But yet again, the visitors were able to bat their way out of a crisis.
Silva and Kapugedera consolidated and they accelerated over the course of the 31 overs and three balls they took to establish the new Sri Lanka record.
Silva, with three half centuries in his previous three one-day knocks at the Oval, added his fourth, more in support of Kapugedera than as the scoring leader.
Establishing themselves in the middle overs when Sulieman Benn (9-0-47-0), playing in his first ODI and Darren Sammy (10-1-38-0) were operating in tandem, the Sri Lankan pair rebuilt the innings. By the time Gayle called back the earlier destroyers in sunnier conditions and on a pitch not giving as much help to them, the batsmen were stepping up the pace.
Kapugedera showed himself to be a clean, powerful hitter. Twice he put Benn over the ropes; hoisting him first in front of the triple tier RBTT stand at midwicket and then, most breathtakingly, straight overhead and into the upper tier of the pavilion, exciting some of the club members in the line of fire.
Edwards was also thumped mightily over long-off at the same southern end.
That last six came however after Silva had finally been removed.
Bravo, back in the attack, had him pulling to Gayle at midwicket who held a catch above his head in the 47th over.
Kapugedera had his first ODI hundred firmly in his sights. But in the final over and with Kapugedera on 95, Edwards trapped him plumb lbw as he tried to paddle the ball to fine-leg.
When much later Bravo, having played some thrilling strokes, was tragically run out in a mix-up with Chanderpaul, Kapugedera’s effort looked as if it might still be the game decider.
That looked even more the case when Patrick Browne (15) was caught in the deep going for a repeat of a six hit the previous ball off Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sammy was comprehensively bowled by Mendis with one that spun away, Taylor became another Mendis victim off his last ball in the 48th over and Benn, having failed to score off Kulasekara from the first four balls, was run out off the penultimate one of the 49th.
The Trini Posse DJ blasted Rally Round The West Indies as the last over began, more in hope than expectation.
But yet again, Chanders made West Indians believe.
