Windies cruise to victory

Press, 11 March 1985, Page 23

Windies cruise to victory

By

CHRIS PETERS,

NZPA staff correspondent Sydney The West Indies gave New Zealand a taste of things to come when they took it apart for a six-wicket win in the Plate Final of the World Championship of Cricket in Sydney on Saturday. On a wicket that carried early moisture, the Windies, led by their new captain, Viv Richards, cut the Kiwis down for just 138 after putting them in to bat then cruised to victory with more than 12 overs to spare. For Geoff Howarth and his men there are just a few days to contemplate what went wrong and how to correct it before they meet the West Indians on their own Caribbean turf for four tests and five more one-day internationals. Howarth was frank after the match — the result and the way his men played were nothing to crow about. "They (West Indies) bowled very well, they played very well, they batted very well, and they thoroughly deserved to win,” he said. “We didn’t bat well enough and didn't score enough runs. If the game was to be be summed up in one statistic, the boundaries told the story — New Zealand managed two in its whole innings while Richards did better than that in just one over when he smashed John Bracewell for a six and a four. Richards, who added the man of the match award with its 13200 and gold cups to the $19,200 the team picked up for winning the consolation final, provided the accelerator for the Windies with 51 in a 72-run stand with Gus Logie. In all the Windies hit 11 boundaries and that huge six as they coasted to the required 139 runs for the loss of four wickets. But it wasn’t all as cut and dried as it seemed at the start of the West Indies innings. Howarth took an innovative approach by opening with Hadlee in tandem with offspinner Bracewell and reaped early dividends, snaring Desmond Haynes at four and Ritchie Richardson at 24, but from there the early New Zealand disasters were too much of a handicap and it was only a matter of time. Richards won the toss and faced with the moist wicket was happy to put the Kiwis in to bat before setting his bowlers on to them. “Our bowlers did a magnificent job to restrict New Zealand to 138 and after that it was a formality for us,” he said later. “They bowled a wonderful line and we stuck to an attacking field for the whole 50 overs. Howarth had no excuses. “We were about 100 runs short of what we would have like to have been and they bowled very well. “We have to learn to play a little straighter than we did and forget about perhaps going for the hook shot and the cut for a while. “There was not really much hope with 140 against their batting line up — it was going to be a miracle if we had bowled them out for less than that on that particular wicket because it dried out to a very good wicket.” Richards had New Zealand on the skewer at 51 for four and he gave it a twist when he introduced spin in the form of Roger Harper and reaped immediate dividends. Jeremy Coney and Hadlee seemed more at home against the brute pace of the Windies' strike pair, and the runs came a little more freely, although an outfield slowed by overnight rain and succinct field placements by Richards kept the brakes well on. In fact when Coney smashed Garner to the cover boundary for four in the 45th over, it was only the second four of the innings, following one by Howarth in the tenth over.

In the final over, from Marshall, the luck that had taken the morning off, finally joined the New Zealanders. John Bracewell lifted a high ball towards deep midwicket and Viv Richards, Harper and Ritchie Richardson all raced for it but each left it to the others to take as it fell in theii miust. Strikes that the fielders had stopped all morning now went past them as the New Zealanders clipped their way to a final total of 138 for nine at a rate of just 2.67 runs an over. Coney top scored for the New Zealanders with 35, followed by Reid’s 18, Smith on 15, with the West Indian bowlers chipping in with 16 extras. Despite some excellent New Zealand bowling that at times bad the batsmen tangled up, the difference between the two sides was the freer batting. The Windies batsmen were better able to pick the gaps or lift the ball over what was still an attacking field. A graphic example of the difference of the speed of the two sides in the field came in the eighteenth over when Gus Logie was trapped almost at the opposite end but was able to remake bis ground before the return from the nearby fielder reached Cairns waiting at the stumps. If any measure was needed of how comfortably the West Indies were doing it, it came in the twenty-ninth over when they posted their 100. The century came from 175 bails in 104 minutes, while the New Zealand mark came in the forty-third over from 254 balls in 161 minutes, nearly an hour slower, and Richards and Logie posted a 50 partnership in 41 minutes. It was in Cairns’s eighth over that the Windies reached another milestone — Richards brought up bis 50 with a rollicking four that was the twelfth run off the over. The half century came in 51 minutes from 60 balls, and included one six and four boundaries. Richards was 51 but that was as far as he got because in the next over Hadlee capped a lethal display by bowling the Windies’ new captain’s middle stump with the score just 13 runs short of victory. With Hadlee having finished his spell — taking three wickets for just 23 in the process — Howarth was forced to finally bring in Coney who had proved so costly against India during the week. He responded with some lean bowling, but it was all in vain as the Windies coasted to their required 139 in 135 minutes with no further loss, Richards’ replacement Jeff Dujon bringing up the total with a four. NEW ZEALAND G. Howarth lbw b Gamer 11 J. Wright c Logie b Gamer 5 J. Reid c Dujon b Davis 18 M. Crowe c Harper b Holding 8 J. Crowe b Harper .... 1 J. Coney c Payne b Gamer 35 I. Smith c Payne b Harper 15 L. Cairns b Holding ... 5 R. Hadlee b Marshall . . 11 J. Bracewell not out. . . 11 E. Chatfield not out . . . 2 Extras (lb, 81b, snb, 2w) 16 Total (for 9 wkts) 138 Fall: 14, 24, 45, 51, 52, 78, 83, 116, 127. Bowling: J. Gamer 10, 2, 29, 3 (snb); M. Marshall 10, 1, 32, 1 (2w); W. Davis 10, 0, 23, 1; M. Holding 1, 10, 1, 23, 2; R. Harper 10, 1, 22, 2. WEST INDIES D. Haynes c Coney b Hadlee 1 R. Richardson c Smith b Hadlee 8 T. Payne b Chatfield. . . 28 G. Logie not out 34 V Richards b Hadlee. . . 51 J. Dujon not out 9 Extras (31b, 2w, 3nb). . 8 Total (for 4 wkts) 139 Fall: 4, 24, 54, 126. Bowling: R. Hadlee 10, 4, 23, 3 (Iw); J. Bracewell 8,2, 42, 0; E. Chatfield 9,0, 25, 1 (Iw); L. Cairns 8,0, 39, 0 (3nb); J. Coney 2.2, 0,7, 0.