Mr Mxyzptlk
Request Your Custom Title Now!
Deja vu: Pickup spins it, but Windies hang on
Cricket Web XI vs West Indies
2nd Test - Kensington Oval
Neil Pickup bowled his heart out on the way to a Man of the Series award, but sloppy Webhead fielding and brave resistance from the West Indies resulted in another drawn result and drawn series. A positive gameplan from the Webheads was evident throughout, and it reversed a strong West Indian position almost to the point of historic victory for the tourists.
Chanderpaul inserted Cricket Web on the first day of the match, and good bowling from Ian Bradshaw, Mervyn Dillon and Dwayne Bravo vindicated the decision to the point of 87/5. The youth took a hold of the innings, however, and Chris Butler and Nathan Hoy batted superbly to resurrect the score, ultimately to 244 all out.
The pitch got progressively easier for batting over the course of days two and three, and the West Indies cashed in in front of an appreciative crowd. Brian Lara looked in stunning form once more, but was bowled through the gate by a Pickup legbreak - an event that inspired tremendous celebration from the legspinner. Pickup would go on to dismiss Lara in the second innings to further the achievement.
Ramdin joined Chanderpaul for a long gruelling partnership of 218, and the two frustrated the Webheads no end on their way to hundreds. Nathan Hoy played a huge role after the partnership was broken, and took 4 wickets in dismissing the tail in relatively brisk fashion.
The Cricket Web XI faced a huge deficit of 189 on first innings, but rather than play cautiously and try to save the match, the plan of action saw a counterattack of the highest quality. Thamba Mamesh struck and timed the ball crisply on his way to his maiden Test half-century, and set the pace for the remarkable innings.
Captain Brendon Goff rose from the ashes of his three previous failures, and smacked 16 boundaries in an awesome chanceless ton. Mørk once again fell short of a hundred, but paced his innings beautifully with caution whilst Mamesh attacked, then some attacking cricket of his own. Andrew Cloete held the momentum, and Goff finally declared the innings closed at 459/7 from just 115 overs.
The brilliant batting meant that the West Indies would need 271 for victory with some 63 overs remaining and the game was well and truly on with a glance at the quality of the home batting line-up. Gayle and Smith laid a solid foundation of 65 in 20 overs, but it was then that Pickup entered the fold.
He first had Gayle caught at deep midwicket attempting to up the tempo, then spun a googly from outside Smith's legstump to remove the offbail. The West Indies went to tea at 105/2. Re-energized, it wasn't long before Pickup impacted once again. Sarwan was taken at midoff attempting to clear the fielder and Chanderpaul bowled stunningly by one that nearly crept along the turf. Suddenly, it was 137/4 and Lara was left to lead the negotiation of the final 24 overs.
He watched as Ramdin was caught at slip off Cunningham for 5, then offered a simple caught-and-bowled chance to Pickup, which was floored. It seemed it would be a telling mistake as the final hour began with 5 wickets still in the West Indies' favour. Memories of the first Test flooded back and Kennett returned to the attack alongside Pickup.
Still lamenting his failure to impact in the crucial second innings of the first Test, Kennett broke through immediately for the Cricket Web XI at his second call. Bravo was lbw for 13, and when Lara was taken at short leg 3 balls later, it seemed that fate had finally favoured Cricket Web.
The final overs were filled with all the drama of the series to the point, and Rawl Lewis survived two confident appeals for lbw, while Kennett dropped a simple chance off his own bowling. All told, the final over from Pickup was negotiated confidently enough to seal a 0-0 result. Not quite the result the Webheads hoped for when they arrived in the Caribbean, but with the quality of cricket and entertainment provided in the series, it was certainly one of the best.
Cricket Web XI 1st Innings 244 all out
West Indies 1st Innings 433 all out
Cricket Web XI 2nd Innings 459 for 7 dec.
West Indies 2nd Innings 190 for 7
Test Match Drawn.
Man of the Match: NS Pickup
Man of the Series: NS Pickup
Cricket Web XI vs West Indies
2nd Test - Kensington Oval
Neil Pickup bowled his heart out on the way to a Man of the Series award, but sloppy Webhead fielding and brave resistance from the West Indies resulted in another drawn result and drawn series. A positive gameplan from the Webheads was evident throughout, and it reversed a strong West Indian position almost to the point of historic victory for the tourists.
Chanderpaul inserted Cricket Web on the first day of the match, and good bowling from Ian Bradshaw, Mervyn Dillon and Dwayne Bravo vindicated the decision to the point of 87/5. The youth took a hold of the innings, however, and Chris Butler and Nathan Hoy batted superbly to resurrect the score, ultimately to 244 all out.
The pitch got progressively easier for batting over the course of days two and three, and the West Indies cashed in in front of an appreciative crowd. Brian Lara looked in stunning form once more, but was bowled through the gate by a Pickup legbreak - an event that inspired tremendous celebration from the legspinner. Pickup would go on to dismiss Lara in the second innings to further the achievement.
Ramdin joined Chanderpaul for a long gruelling partnership of 218, and the two frustrated the Webheads no end on their way to hundreds. Nathan Hoy played a huge role after the partnership was broken, and took 4 wickets in dismissing the tail in relatively brisk fashion.
The Cricket Web XI faced a huge deficit of 189 on first innings, but rather than play cautiously and try to save the match, the plan of action saw a counterattack of the highest quality. Thamba Mamesh struck and timed the ball crisply on his way to his maiden Test half-century, and set the pace for the remarkable innings.
Captain Brendon Goff rose from the ashes of his three previous failures, and smacked 16 boundaries in an awesome chanceless ton. Mørk once again fell short of a hundred, but paced his innings beautifully with caution whilst Mamesh attacked, then some attacking cricket of his own. Andrew Cloete held the momentum, and Goff finally declared the innings closed at 459/7 from just 115 overs.
The brilliant batting meant that the West Indies would need 271 for victory with some 63 overs remaining and the game was well and truly on with a glance at the quality of the home batting line-up. Gayle and Smith laid a solid foundation of 65 in 20 overs, but it was then that Pickup entered the fold.
He first had Gayle caught at deep midwicket attempting to up the tempo, then spun a googly from outside Smith's legstump to remove the offbail. The West Indies went to tea at 105/2. Re-energized, it wasn't long before Pickup impacted once again. Sarwan was taken at midoff attempting to clear the fielder and Chanderpaul bowled stunningly by one that nearly crept along the turf. Suddenly, it was 137/4 and Lara was left to lead the negotiation of the final 24 overs.
He watched as Ramdin was caught at slip off Cunningham for 5, then offered a simple caught-and-bowled chance to Pickup, which was floored. It seemed it would be a telling mistake as the final hour began with 5 wickets still in the West Indies' favour. Memories of the first Test flooded back and Kennett returned to the attack alongside Pickup.
Still lamenting his failure to impact in the crucial second innings of the first Test, Kennett broke through immediately for the Cricket Web XI at his second call. Bravo was lbw for 13, and when Lara was taken at short leg 3 balls later, it seemed that fate had finally favoured Cricket Web.
The final overs were filled with all the drama of the series to the point, and Rawl Lewis survived two confident appeals for lbw, while Kennett dropped a simple chance off his own bowling. All told, the final over from Pickup was negotiated confidently enough to seal a 0-0 result. Not quite the result the Webheads hoped for when they arrived in the Caribbean, but with the quality of cricket and entertainment provided in the series, it was certainly one of the best.
Cricket Web XI 1st Innings 244 all out
West Indies 1st Innings 433 all out
Cricket Web XI 2nd Innings 459 for 7 dec.
West Indies 2nd Innings 190 for 7
Test Match Drawn.
Man of the Match: NS Pickup
Man of the Series: NS Pickup
This is really starting to go beyond a joke.
