Ausies v. Windies - 4th. Test

[HAL]

Where did double take century ?

[Donny]

Langer out for 111. Caught at slip by Lara from Gayle.

The partnership was 242 - their highest as an opening pair.

Gilchrist in.

[Donny]

At lunch, Australia are 3/285. they scored 114 for the session.

Hayden is batting freely on 145 and looks like he's heading for a double of his own.

Banks has 2/109 and Gayle, 1/18.

[Donny]

Hayden went on to 177 before being run out.

Australia were dismissed for 417 so the Wingies need 418 to win. Waugh was not out on 45.

Dillon took 4/112, Drakes, 2/92 and Banks, 2/153.

At stumps, the Windies are 0/47 after 22.1 overs.

[Donny]

West Indies fight back strongly after Hayden's masterclass
Andrew Miller - 11 May 2003


Matthew Hayden steamrolled his way to a magnificent 177, his 14th Test century and the highest score ever made by a visiting batsman in Antigua, as Australia moved ever closer to that elusive clean-sweep in the Caribbean. The West Indies will require a new world record if they are to avoid defeat for the fourth match in succession.

Hayden added 242 runs in a blistering opening partnership with Justin Langer, who recorded his 15th hundred, before a collapse of sorts gave a strong West Indian batting line-up hope. All ten Australian wickets fell for 175, as Omari Banks and Merv Dillon lifted themselves in the absence of the first-innings hero, Jermaine Lawson, who was off the field with a back strain, amid murmurings about his somewhat kinky bowling action. The next highest scorer in the innings was Steve Waugh, who finished unbeaten on 45 in his final Test in the Caribbean.

It had been a quiet series for Hayden. Although he picked up a century in the second Test at Port-of-Spain, his returns had been well below the battery-farm standards of the previous year, in which he clobbered eight hundreds in 13 matches. Today though, he made amends in spectacular fashion. In the first session, West Indies seemed devoid of optimism and firepower, and Hayden and Langer cashed in.

Hayden, as usual, was the principle aggressor. He cut Vasbert Drakes towards third man to bring up his century, and two balls later celebrated the 200 partnership with equal glee. It was their fifth in Tests, overtaking the old record set by Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes.

Langer took a more leisurely route to his 15th Test century, but began to cash in thereafter as Drakes served up a diet of long-hops and full-tosses. But, moments after their partnership had exceeded the first-innings totals of 240, Langer was gone, pushing half-heartedly at the part-time spin of Chris Gayle. Brian Lara, who missed Hayden at slip yesterday evening, made no mistake this time (242 for 1).

West Indies wouldn't have been particularly thrilled to see Adam Gilchrist marching out to the middle, a clear statement of intent from the Australian camp. But Banks, who had bowled with flight and guile (and no luck) struck quickly, as Gilchrist deflected an edge off Ridley Jacobs's shoulder, into the hands of Marlon Samuels, the substitute fielder, at gully (273 for 2). And on the stroke of lunch, the same combination put paid to Love as well, at backward short-leg this time (285 for 3). Love had made 2, a timely boost for a beleaguered team.

But Hayden ground relentlessly onwards after the interval. He moved to his 150 by lofting Banks over long-on for six, perhaps in an attempt to take out his old tormentor, Curtly Ambrose, who moments earlier had held up play after wandering in front of the sightscreen.

Running out of options, Lara returned to Dillon, who had bowled with no great enthusiasm in his early spells. Dillon's head dropped when Darren Lehmann survived a huge lbw shout on 10, but then, after bowling a spate of no-balls, Lehmann chopped Dillon onto his stumps for 14 (330 for 4), and Dillon was sparked into life. Waugh was rapped on the pads first-ball, and then came the big wicket - as Hayden charged down the wicket for a quick single and was sent back and beaten by Carlton Baugh's direct hit at the non-striker's end (338 for 5).

Andy Bichel, who has been lamping allcomers to all corners in recent weeks, then drove expansively at a full-length ball from Dillon, and clipped a head-high chance to Devon Smith at second slip for 0 (343 for 6). The new ball was now available, but with Dillon finding a hint of reverse-swing, and Banks bowling a fine spell from the other end, Lara held it back. The gamble more or less paid off - Lee made a quickfire 18 before chopping Dillon to yet another substitute, Sylvester Joseph at third man (373 for 7).

After tea, Lara did finally take the new ball, and Jason Gillespie and Stuart MacGill flinched back to the pavilion in quick succession. But Glenn McGrath made his case for a promotion from No. 11, adding an important 29 runs with his captain, before poking a catch to Daren Ganga at short leg.

Gayle and Smith were left to see out a tricky 23-over spell, and they did so with great maturity. Gayle ground out just four runs in his first 37 balls, but when MacGill overpitched he cracked him mightily into the long-off stands, just to prove he would not be a hostage to this defensive mindset. Brett Lee bowled a furious spell late on, but in fading light, the umpires took pity with five nervy balls remaining. West Indies finished the small matter of 371 runs adrift, with two whole days to play. Victory is as unlikely as ever, but it remains a remote possibility.

[Donny]

Will readers of this article note it was the match referee, Mike Proctor, who requested a video of Lawson's bowling action, not the Aussie camp or the Aussie media.

Lawson's action to come under scrutiny
Wisden CricInfo staff - 11 May 2003


An astonishing week of success for Jermaine Lawson may be about to turn sour, after it was reported that the match referee, Mike Procter, had requested videotapes of his bowling action.

Lawson, 21, took a career-best 7 for 78 – the best figures in a Test in Antigua – as Australia were bowled out for 240 in their first innings on Friday. That effort followed swiftly on from his hat-trick in the closing stages of the third Test in Barbados, and he had been consistently recording bowling speeds in excess of 90mph.

But he was unable to take the field on the third day of the Test after suffering a back strain, and Procter will now be taking a closer look at his action, which like that of Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, appears to involve a certain degree of hyper-extension.

[Donny]

In the third over of the day, Brett Lee had Gayle caught by Steve Waugh at mid on. 1/48.

[Donny]

The windies are now 2/50. Smith edged one from Gillespie to Gilchrist.

[Kristin5]

Windies are looking good. I went to bed after Lara went out (sorry, but a girl needs some sleep!), thinking we'd wrap up the rest in no time...then woke up at 7:30 to see Chanderpaul make a century!

At stumps, Windies are 6/371, so they need 47 runs to win with 4 wickets in hand and a whole bloody day's play to do it in. Should be a piece of cake.

[woe_is_me]

GO the Windies!!!!!! Lovely to see....

[Donny]

This is a wonderful, gutsy effort from the Windies.

They are on the brink of a great victory and a world record run chase.

Banks (28 n.o.) is giving solid support to Chanderpaul (103 n.o.) in an 83 run partnership which leaves them with just 47 to get. Martin Love dropped a straightforward chance from Banks when he was on 3.

Drakes is next in and is a first class centurian.

Earlier, Lara made 60 and Sarwan, 105. Lee has 3/52.

Sarwan's 105 in 139 balls and Chanderpaul's 103 in 144 balls were excellent Test innings.

An Aussie win is still on the cards and you can bet they'll be giving it their all. On the news, this morning, Gilly said they're all exhausted but I reckon they'll still give this a shake.

[Donny]

West Indies on verge of history as tempers fray in Antigua
Andrew Miller - 12 May 2003


This Test match has simmered for days, but in an extraordinary hour after tea, it erupted in a fury. Just as Australia looked set to complete an unprecedented clean-sweep in the Caribbean, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul belted West Indies back into contention in a flurry of boundaries, bouncers and bad-feeling. It was Test cricket at its rawest and – until the crowd stepped in with a volley of debris from the stands – at its best.

By the close, the equation was simple – Australia needed four wickets to complete one brand of history, and West Indies needed 47 runs for an even more improbable achievement of their own. Only two sides have ever chased more than 400 runs for victory, but no-one has ever managed a total as high as 418. There is nothing dead about this rubber.

After three years and 57 innings of near-misses, Sarwan finally registered his first Test century against creditable opposition (he scored 119 against Bangladesh in December), and Chanderpaul returned to his bat-flinging best, with a rollicking 103. By the close Chanderpaul had added an unbeaten 83 for the seventh wicket with the admirable Omari Banks, who played hard and straight to reach 28, and West Indies had Australia distinctly rattled. Had they been able to reach a conclusion this evening, only one side could have won it.

It was a far cry from the morning session. West Indies had begun with cautious optimism after a resourceful opening stand of 47 on Sunday evening, but Devon Smith and Chris Gayle could add only another two runs between them. When Daren Ganga was trapped lbw by a brute of an inswinging yorker from Glenn McGrath, West Indies were 74 for 3 and the white paint was dripping.

Only one man, it seemed, could save the day. And for half a session, while Brian Lara was treating Stuart MacGill with barely disguised contempt, the improbable looked ever-possible. Lara clobbered consecutive sixes over long-on to bring up his fifth half-century of the series, but MacGill had the last laugh, suckering Lara with a flighted delivery outside off stump, which ripped out of the rough to clip the top of middle (165 for 4).

By this stage, however, Sarwan was flowing. He was eased into the session by Waugh, who bowled a lengthy spell after lunch as the big guns rested up ahead of the new ball. Chanderpaul was quickly up to speed as well, and Sarwan went to tea on 67 not out, knowing full well that nearly would not be enough this time. And then it all kicked off.

It started innocuously enough, with a few muttered words between balls, but before long McGrath and Sarwan had become involved in a furious finger-pointing altercation, and umpire Shepherd was forced to intervene. Moments later McGrath had to be relieved on the fine-leg boundary by Matthew Hayden as the crowd got stuck in as well.

Sarwan refused to allow himself to be rattled, and took out his frustration by carving a brace of MacGill long-hops past point for four to move into the nineties. Chanderpaul responded to the raised stakes in glorious fashion as well, swinging Jason Gillespie for two fours in an over to bring up his fifty from 73 balls. Waugh responded by recalling Brett Lee to the attack, but Sarwan clubbed him first-ball through midwicket for four to move onto 98.

Australia took the new ball to unsettle Sarwan, but he was not to be denied, and drove Lee down the ground to complete his century. He punched the air and roared with delight, and despite their fury, some of the Australians were able to put aside the match situation to shake Sarwan's hand.

Lee however was not one of them, and in his next over, the Antigua Recreation Ground exploded. Sarwan slashed his first ball wildly over gully for four, but just when discretion would have been the better part of valour, he attempted to hook a venomous bouncer and top-edged straight back to Lee, who immediately ran across to McGrath to celebrate. Sarwan was gone for 105, and Australia's pressure had finally told.

Lee's very next delivery was a phenomenal bouncer that screamed past Ridley Jacobs and clearly clipped something on the way through. Umpire Shepherd agreed it was glove, but replays proved it had been Jacobs's elbow that had borne the brunt. Had he done the natural thing and showed the pain, Jacobs would surely have been reprieved.

It was too much for the crowd, who bombarded the ground with bottles. West Indies had been a mere 130 runs adrift with six wickets standing, but suddenly their hopes of victory had vanished.

Banks, however, has demonstrated his obduracy on several occasions already this series, and after a brief rain-break which cooled the tempers a fraction, he provided Chanderpaul with vital support – although he was indebted to a rare lapse from Martin Love, who dropped him at second slip when he had made just 2. When Chanderpaul took 14 runs from a Gillespie over, including a hooked six, West Indies had reduced their target to double-figures.

That was just the start for Chanderpaul, who rampaged to his eighth Test century as MacGill melted under a barrage of boundaries, and with three overs remaining, he swung MacGill to long-leg and kissed the ground in triumph. Banks got in on the act as well, cracking MacGill for an exocet of a straight drive, before playing out his final over of the day with a maturity beyond his 20 years. West Indies had lacerated 143 runs in a session, and Australia's dream was hanging by a thread.

[Donny]

Not a good look, Pigeon.

Get your mind back on what you do best - BOWLING !!

[gobbles21]

The first session looks like it may be tight. Could we see an amazing feat with the West Indies equaling our score in both innings for a tied test???

Who ever wins this test will write themselves into the record books. If Australia can post a win they will be the first team to complete a whitewash in the Carribean. And if the Windies win the will have chased the highest 4th innings score in history to win a test.

[Donny]

ACB tells Waugh to rein in Australian team
Wisden CricInfo Staff - 13 May 2003


The heated altercation between Glenn McGrath and Ramnaresh Sarwan on the fourth day of the Antigua Test has brought forth strong reaction from the Australian Cricket Board (ACB).

James Sutherland, the ACB's chief executive, said that he spoke to Steve Waugh and both agreed that the incident bordered on inappropriate behaviour. "It's all very well to be playing the game in the right spirit when things are going your way, but if things are not going your way, that's when the real test is on. If you can't carry yourself in the true spirit of the game at those times, perhaps you need to have a good look at yourself."

The incident occurred after tea on the fourth day, with West Indies marching towards an improbable victory. McGrath swore aggressively at Sarwan in an apparent response to something that was said to him. Mike Procter, the match referee, is expected to call up the concerned players for an explanation.