Chanderpaul sees West Indies home

The Brit Oval, London : South Africa v West Indies
ICC Champions trophy 2004 - Match Eleven

Despite the magnificent return to form of Herschelle Gibbs, this was another match the Proteas would rather forget as a supreme Sarwan innings, followed by a cameo from Shivnarine Chanderpaul saw the West Indies home against a challenging South African total of 246.

There was relief all round as the rain that has threatened all the way through the tournament decided to stay away, and what had been a thrilling contest could resume.

The West Indies found the going tough initally on a sluggish pitch, and against some very tight South African bowling.

Chris Gayle chopped onto his stumps early on, Hinds fell to a dubious LBW decision, and the innings looked to be in tatters as the South African bowlers applied the brakes with canny One day bowling.

To their credit, the West Indies managed to keep their nerve through testing times, and even though Lara was lured down the track and bowled by Boje, they still kept wickets in hand.

South Africa's tendency to bottle under pressure has been well documented, but their defeat today was at the hands of a clinical run chase from Ramnaresh Sarwan, and later Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

The gritty left hander paired up with the established Ramnaresh Sarwan to inject some much needed life into the West Indian innings.

Sarwan's last 41 runs came in 33 balls, as the expensive Langeveldt was plundered, and by the time he fell, the West Indies could sense victory. Ricardo Powell hit two sixes to effectively seal a hard fought game.

The West Indies play against Pakistan in the semi final, and a victory would come as welcome relief from a difficult year of cricket.

South Africa - 246/6
HH Gibbs 101, JA Rudolph 46, CH Gayle 3/50
West Indies - 249/5 (48,5 overs)
RR Sarwan 75, S Chanderpaul 51, M Ntini 2/26

West Indies won by 5 Wickets
MOM - RR Sarwan


Posted by RichardHi