Lynn McConnell
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1st Super League Match: India Under-19s v West Indies Under-19s at Lincoln, 27 Jan 2002 Lynn McConnell |
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India Under-19s innings:
Pre-game: West Indies Under-19s, Group 1 innings: |
The West Indian attack was hit all around the ground as Patel and opening partner Mahinder Bisla, who was felled by the first ball of the game from West Indian fast bowler Ryan Nurse, scored 79 before Patel was bowled by Nurse off the second ball of the 11th over.
At the 15-over mark India were 103/1 with Bisla 35 not out and Deepak Chougule six not out. The 100 was scored off 81 balls.
It was entertainment of the highest order as Patel, a small, compact left-hander stood up to the bulky might of the West Indian pace men. He wasn't at all afraid to take the attack to them and the only six of his innings typified that. He went to hook a short, fast ball from Nurse but he mishit the ball which flew high behind the sightscreen.
His back foot drives were especially eye-catching and such was the manner of his attack that West Indian captain Narsingh Deonarine had to take Gavin Tonge out of the line-up after his first two overs went for 19.
Deonarin had a bowl himself in a bid to halt the scoring rate but conceded 13 in his one over..
Bisla continued the assault, although not at quite the same frenetic pace, once Patel had departed, swinging balls from Nurse for four and a three through the leg side. In his second spell he conceded 10 runs off his sixth over, with his total figures on 37 for the one wicket.
The West Indies scored 155/9. They had plenty to thank their No 10 and 11 batsmen Darren Sammy (17 not out) and Gavin Tonge (four not out) for as they added 21 for the last wicket.
It was a disappointing effort from the West Indians who failed to build any significant partnerships in their innings. They scored 3, 23, 27, 9,9,27,25,4 and 21 which graphically illustrates their lack of application.
Left-hand batsman Lorenzo Ingram became the key player for the West Indies in the latter stages of their innings but in what was a typical act for his side's batsmen he got out at precisely the wrong time.
With only five overs remaining, and one batsman to follow him, he charged Abhishek Sharma and completely missed the ball to be easily stumped to be out for 43 off 74 balls.
He deserved a better reward for what had been, until his dismissal, a well-crafted innings.
His willingness to play straight bore him huge rewards and lifted his side clear of the realms of potential embarrassment.
The self-destruction among the top and middle-order batsmen did not bode well for their prospects of advancing beyond the Super League status on the evidence presented today.
They have still to bowl but conditions on the traditionally batsman-friendly wicket do not seem that bad.
India's bowling resources helped them considerably and it was seventh choice bowler, off-spinner Yaleeka Rao who chipped in with two good wickets when introduced to the attack for the first time to bowl the 40th over.
He immediately had Gareth Matthew out, slipping and stumped for nine and then in his next over the big tailend batsman Ryan Nurse attempted the big hit but which he miscued for wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel to get under and hold as the West Indies slumped to 127/8.
Sharma bowled out his 10 overs and had two for 28 and kept the pressure on the batsmen constantly, allowing them little freedom to really attack him.
Rao ended the innings with two for eight from his four overs.
The one weak area exhibited by India was their fielding which suffered when the pressure was applied with quickly-taken singles expecially.
After 32 overs, the West Indies were in trouble at 100/6 with Lorenzo Ingram on 21 not out and Gareth Matthew one not out.
India were helped when the pick of the West Indies batsmen, and the only player to produce a sizeable score so far, Lendl Simmons ran himself out when he was on 38, scored off 62 balls. Standing at the non-striker's end he set off for a single when it was partner Lorenzo Ingram's call.
Ingram did not respond to Simmons and the Indian were quick to realise the West Indian's plight and had the bails off with some tidy fielding before he could make his ground.
It couldn't have come at a worse time for the West Indies as they were 71/5 having earlier lost Tonito Willett caught at cover of Maninder Bisla's bowling then nine runs later, at 62, Narsingh Deonarine was also out when caught by Rao off Stuart Binny's bowling.
Lorenzo Ingram attempted to extricate his side from trouble with good use of his feet to the slower Indian bowlers. However, in the 32nd over, when he was on 20 he lost partner Alcindo Holder for nine when the score was 98.
Bisla was expensive in his six overs while conceding 29 runs, but he picked up two key wickets.
The score at the 15-over mark was 46/2 with Lendl Simmons 22 not out and Tonito Willett six.
It took the West Indies five overs to get their first run off the bat, their first four runs all being leg byes.
They lost Dwayne Bravo in the third over when Indian fast-medium bowler Siddharth Trevini got a full ball through his defences to bowl him.
Donovan Pagon took time to find his batting feet but had reward for biding his time when he was able to play two shots off his legs into the leg-side field for boundaries. The first backward of square and the second through mid-wicket.
Then to continue the boost in the scoring rate Lendl Simmons edged a ball past second slip for a boundary and later in the same over straight drove Trivedi for four.
Irfan Pathan was relieved after four overs, which had cost 12 runs, by Maninder Bisla. It was an effective move as off his last ball of the first over he enticed Pagon to attempt a cover drive. In playing the shot Pago was unable to hit the ball over cover fieldsman Deepak Chougule and was out for 12. The West Indies were 26/2.
Pathan changed ends to spell Trivedi whose first spell made impressive reading - five overs, two maidens, nine runs, one wicket.
Simmons took the attack to Bisla in his second over with one lovely straight drive which almost seemed to pick up speed as it flowed across the outfield to the boundary. Later in the same over he powered into a magnificent cover drive which rocketed into the fence and moved his score to 18.
Tonito Willett helped himself to four, courtesy of a lovely lofted drive from Bisla in the next over to take the West Indies to 43/2 after 14 overs.
Conditions are pleasant with overcast conditions and prospects are that the cloud will burn off and temperatures will get quite high.
With fine weather in the Christchurch area over the last few days the outfield should have quickened up considerably and the chances are that a high scoring game is in prospect.
The West Indies showed impressive bowling skills in their preliminary round games but the test for them may be how they handle the Indian slower bowling.
The teams are:
India: Parthiv Patel (captain), Maninder Bisla, Deepak Chougule, Y G Rao, Chandan Madaan, Irfan Pathan, Siddharth Trivedi, Abhishek Sharma, Rakesh Mohanty, Mohnish Mishka, Stuart Binny. Chandrashekar Eknanth Atram (12th man).
West Indies: Narasingh Deonarine (captain), Donovan Pagon, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Tonito Willett, Lorenzo Ingram, Alcindo Holder, Gareth Matthew, Darren Sammy, Ryan Nurse, Gavin Tonge, Ravi Rampaul (12th man).
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Date-stamped : 27 Jan2002 - 22:32