PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, 15 May 2005 — West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit a painstaking, undefeated 85 to help his side reach 231 for eight in the fourth One-Day International against South Africa yesterday.
Chanderpaul, who was dropped on 29 at cover off Andrew Hall in the 30th over, hit five boundaries from 103 balls and shared a fifth-wicket stand of 50 with compatriot Ramnaresh Sarwan, who scored 48 from 77 balls that included three fours.
Outside of these two, there was little substance or stability from the rest of the West Indies batting that again crumbled under disciplined bowling from the South Africans.
Makhaya Ntini was the most successful South Africa bowler with three wickets for 34 runs from eight overs, and Charl Langeveldt took two for 42 from eight overs.
West Indies were set back, when Chris Gayle and Xavier Marshall were both caught at point for three runs each off Ntini to leave their side 16 for two in the fourth over. Lara added 45 with Sarwan to get West Indies moving, but Andre Nel again poached the great left-hander when he was caught in the covers for 22 in the 17th over.
Sarwan put together his partnership with Chanderpaul, but was caught inside the long leg boundary off Jacques Kallis in the 29th over.
Dwayne Bravo staged a bit of a recovery with Chanderpaul when they added 49, but his departure in the 38th over, caught behind off Ntini for 28, triggered some instability and three wickets fell for 52 runs in the next 10 overs.
There was not the typical flourish at the end of the innings in the face of mean, purposeful bowling from the South Africans.
South Africa listed two changes to their line-up with Abraham de Villiers and Hall coming in for the suspended Graeme Smith and the injured Herschelle Gibbs respectively.
Smith has been banned for four ODIs for a slow over rate in the third ODI at Bridgetown on Wednesday, so Shaun Pollock is leading the South Africans for the first time since the 2003 World Cup match against Sri Lanka at Durban.
Gibbs is carrying a bit of an injury in one of his knees and is being rested. West Indies made one change to their side, replacing Fidel Edwards with fellow fast bowler Daren Powell. South Africa lead the best-of-five series 3-0, after winning the first two matches at Kingston by eight wickets each, and the third ODI at Bridgetown by one run with one ball to spare.
Kenyan Match-Fixing Scandal Haunts Patil
In Nairobi, the Kenyan cricket match-fixing scandal, which led to a five-year suspension of former captain Maurice Odumbe and further investigations on other players, may have jeopardized Sandeep Patil’s candidacy as the next India coach, reports said yesterday.
The 48-year-old former Indian Test batsman was coach of the Kenya cricket team twice, first taking over in 1996 to 1997 and later return after the 1999 World Cup in England.
He left in controversial circumstances after the final of the 1997 ICC Trophy tournament in Malaysia but it was in his second time in charge that he scored much success with Kenya, leading the East Africa to their first-ever semifinals of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
It was also during the same period that the allegations of match-fixing tainted the sport and Odumbe was subject of an inquiry investigation by the International Cricket Council (ICC) Anti-Corruption and Safety Unit.
Early this year, Kenyan cricket officials said the investigators were also keen to interview Patil in connection to a four-nation tournament held in Nairobi in 1999. Indian media said the choice of Patil as one of the four candidates to replace John Wright as team coach “may not be welcomed by the ICC’s Corruption Unit.”
