All pain, no gain

When will it end?

The depressing sequence of inevitable West Indies defeats was extended to No. 5 yesterday after South Africa taught them a lesson in how to defend a seemingly modest total.

Utilising conditions that were friendly for bowlers, South Africa displayed the tenacity that have made them one of international cricket's most feared teams.

For once, the West Indies appeared to have a genuine chance of winning after they restricted the visitors to 190 in mainly overcast conditions at a packed Queen's Park Oval.

The South Africans, however, admirably defended the type of totals the West Indies could not in previous matches to the extent that they won by a relatively comfortable margin of 53 runs.

They bowled straight for the most part, produced a few wicket-taking deliveries and fielded with their customary efficiency in spite of the distractions over the recent revelations of marijuana use by some of their team members.

West Indies' response to the target was encouraging for a period. They passed 100 with three wickets down, but as the asking rate kept increasing, so too did the fall of wickets and the last seven fell for 29.

By the time they were all out for 137, many fans were already on their way home.

It was the West Indies' fourth lowest total at the ground, but Hooper refused to blame the pitch.

It wasn't the best track that we played on in the six games, but it wasn't poor by any means, he said.

The ball kept a bit low but South Africa worked and got 190 on it and we struggled to even get 150. I don't think you can blame the wicket, but it wasn't the best One-Day wicket.

Instead, the West Indies captain was singing a familiar tune.

It's disappointing to set games up and then not being able to finish them off, Hooper said. We can't drop in the towel and get negative and disillusioned. We've got to keep working hard and try to rectify the areas which are giving us problems.

West Indies found the pitch even more challenging than South Africa did and it took them the better part of four overs for their first run, courtesy of a no-ball from debutant Andre Nel which Shivnarine Chanderpaul edged to the 'keeper.

Nel did get his just reward when Daren Ganga edged a beauty to first slip.

It made way for Brian Lara, who immediately raised the tempo in stroking 41 off 63 balls. The Prince of Port-of-Spain was just about getting into top stride when a combination of his misjudgment and Jonty Rhodes' typically outstanding fielding silenced a crowd of more than 20 000.

Lara pulled Justin Kemp through mid-wicket and mid-on off successive balls and 11 were taken from the 26th over when he and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were indecisive over a single to point. Lara virtually gave up and he was well short of his crease when Rhodes' direct throw hit the stumps at the bowler's end.

Chanderpaul (27 off 84 balls) never came to terms with the surface or the bowling and most of the spectators were relieved when left-arm unorthodox spinner Paul Adams spun one away from him for Mark Boucher to complete the stumping.

The match was still in the balance at 108 for three in the 38th over but Nel delivered telling blows in consecutive balls by dismissing Hooper and Ricardo Powell. Even if the pitch was not the easiest for batting, the West Indies bowlers should still be given credit for their control after Hooper asked South Africa's new-look XI to bat first on a strip with an extra tinge of grass.

With the exception of a third-wicket stand of 92 in 21.5 overs between Neil McKenzie and Kemp, South Africa, who made four changes from the line-up that wrapped up the series three days earlier, struggled against an attack in which almost everyone played his part.

The leg-breaks of Dinanath Ramnarine were expensive after he came on at the half-way stage, but Cameron Cuffy, Corey Collymore, Kerry Jeremy, along with the off-spin combination of Hooper and Marlon Samuels each chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Cuffy and Collymore, in for his first match of the series, applied the early pressure to the extent that the first ten overs produced only 20 runs.

By then, Cuffy's sharp break-back had accounted for Herschelle Gibbs, whose run-scoring and off-field activities have commanded just as much attention in recent days.

The tall Vincentian removed Boeta Dippenaar after he laboured 37 balls for seven runs. Cuffy's inward movement earned him a lbw verdict before South Africa recovered through the aggression of Kemp and the more measured strokeplay of McKenzie, who showed little effects from the hamstring injury that sidelined him for the previous four matches.

Especially strong off the pads, McKenzie counted eight of South Africa's 14 boundaries in an innings of 73 off 117 balls. He was the one who looked likely to boost the total to over 200, but Collymore kept him scoreless for three balls in the 41st over before removing him with the help of a diving catch by wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs.

Before McKenzie went, Hooper tightened West Indies' grip with a double-strike in successive overs. The victims were the dangerous Kemp, whose 46 included a stunning six over long-on off Jeremy, and Jacques Kallis, bowled between bat and pad attempting a nondescript shot.

The West Indies captain was again tight throughout his ten overs and when Samuels replaced him after 40 overs, he was just as effective in claiming the wickets of Pollock and Paul Adams.

Jeremy, under the microscope after he was not given a single ball in Barbados, conceded 28 runs from his first six overs, but came back to take two wickets in a commendable second spell.