-Gayle force blows away Kiwis in super over after making a half
century the first time around
By Tony Cozier
In AUCKLAND
IT took Chris Gayle’s breathtaking power-hitting in the peculiar circumstances of two separate innings in a one-innings match to save the West Indies from the embarrassment of defeat and several of his players the shame of mindless cricket in the first of two 20/20 Internationals against New Zealand at packed, hot, sunny Eden Park yesterday.
The towering West Indies captain followed his seven sixes in his 197 in the second Test in Napier with five more long, certain maximums in 67 off 41 balls as the West Indies levelled New Zealand’s 155 for seven from their allocated 20 overs for a repetition of the tie in the first such match at the same venue three years ago.
Rather than break the deadlock with a “bowl-off” that New Zealand won then, it was decided by the game’s latest innovation, an “eliminator over” with one appointed bowler in which three batsmen and one bowler are designated by each team for the over.
Gayle, winning the toss second time round and batting, effectively decided it with more devastating blows, thumping 25 in the over (6, 1, [Marshall was run out on the second run attempt] 6, 6, 4, 2) off his opposing skipper, Daniel Vettori whose return from four miserly overs in the main match had brought him three for 16.
Jacob Oram and Ross Taylor raised the hopes of the 20,000 spectators by hoisting Suleiman Benn, the West Indies’ answer to Vettori, for sixes off the first and third balls of their “eliminator over” but the tall left-arm spinner sealed the deal as Oram lifted a catch to long-on and Taylor was yorked.
Gayle’s initial demolition job, matching the work that has torn down one stand in preparation for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, should have been sufficient to carry his team to a straightforward victory.
But, after he was caught at deep extra-cover from off-spinner Jeetan Patel, a familiar mental meltdown overcame his team mates who kept offering high catches. The beat of the steel band in the open stand became more and more muted with every wicket.
When Gayle was fourth out, caught at deep extra-cover from off-spinner Jeetan Patel, 42 were needed off 35 balls. Any bunch of level-headed cricketers would have calmly wiped them off but these are in especially short supply in the West Indies these days.
With a succession of skied catches from panic-stricken shots, the match was only tied when Benn edged the penultimate ball from fast bowler Tim Southee to third man for four and squeezed the next for a single.
Until Gayle’s dismissal it never seemed remotely like coming to that.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, opening with Gayle for the first time in a short-format match for two years, was brilliantly caught and bowled by Kyle Mills in the fourth over. But Xavier Marshall and the captain were cruising in a partnership of 63 when Vettori introduced himself and promptly bowled Marshall with his first ball, faster and with the arm.
Ramnaresh Sarwan, still obviously and woefully out of touch, stalled over four from 12 balls until, frustrated, he lofted a catch to cover.
As Vettori and Patel weaved their web of suspicion, the high catches practice continued. Keiron Pollard casually sent his first ball into the crowd at mid-wicket but then holed out to long-on from his fifth ball, and Carlton Baugh skied his second to the `keeper.
A West Indies victory became increasingly less likely. In the end, it took luck to turn defeat into a tie and Gayle to transform it into victory.
New Zealand’s total was based around Ross Taylor’s 63 from 50 balls with four sixes in his favoured direction of mid-wickets and four fours.
He is an exciting batsman with a range of shots who is passing through a poor patch. The West Indies should hope he doesn’t clear it by the time they leave.
Most of the others threatened but none got going. As with Vettori and Patel later, the spin of big Benn and Gayle was difficult to hit and their seven overs brought three wickets and 36 runs.
As Samuel Badree and others have shown in the Stanford 20/20 tournaments, flat, full length spin is hard to get away. The fast bowlers were easier targets. As they strayed in length and line, Ross Taylor, and a couple of the others, were after them.
Still, it was Fidel Edwards who produced the ball of the day, his first, to dispatch the left-handed Jesse Ryder. It was quick and snaked in through the air to sneak between bat and from pad.
The bowling was generally good but the ground fielding was shaky, conceding at least eight under earned runs. It is a number that can decide a match in the 20/20 version.
There is work to be done to get the players up to peak but so little time to do it.
It seems Gayle will be basically carrying the team with his batting, bowling and captaincy for some time. He could not have done it better or more emphatically than yesterday.
