Cable and Wireless ODIs: It's win or die
Port-Of-Spain - The facts of the matter are simple
22-Apr-2000
Port-Of-Spain - The facts of the matter are simple.
West Indies must beat Pakistan in back-to-back matches at the Queen's
Park Oval this weekend to become champions of the Caribbean's
first-ever triangular limited-overs competition.
Defeat on Wednesday at Kensington Oval, their first in seven matches
under new captain Jimmy Adams, has given Pakistan a significant
advantage in the three-match finals.
'The challenges are on for these next two games,' Adams admitted.
'And I am looking forward to the entire team rising to this
challenge.'
It is a case of do-or-die, he said.
'We have no choice but to (fight back). This is what we call crunch
time.
'If we don't do it in this next game, that's it. We want to and we
intend to win this One-Day tournament.'
West Indies find themselves in this position after their 17-run loss
at Kensington in a match they appeared to be on course to win once
they had reached 99 for one in search of 198 for victory.
There was a dramatic collapse, with seven wickets falling for 47 runs.
'It was an experience for the entire team and one that I am certain we
are going to learn from and try and gain as much from this experience
and put things right for the next two games,' Adams said.
The West Indies captain avoided blaming any of the players for the
defeat or saying exactly where the team fell down.
'Collectively, we didn't get 200 runs, which is where I'm going to
leave it at this point in time. When you start getting down on
specifics, that has to be done inside the team forum,' he said.
It was the first time the West Indies had batted last in the
series. Likewise, it was the first time Pakistan had batted first and
captain Moin Khan said they tended to perform better when they were
defending runs.
'When he batted first in the Sharjah tournament, we did quite well
there. I believe in my bowling. That's why I decided to bat first (in
Wednesday's match),' he said.
It is likely that Pakistan will want to do the same thing today on a
pitch which might become worse as the match progresses.
Should they complete a victory in either match, it will round off a
satisfactory month in which Pakistan also won the Sharjah Champions
Trophy just before coming to the Caribbean.
Their success here has been achieved without key players such as
experienced opener Saeed Anwar, all-rounder Azhar Mamhood, exciting
fast bowler Shaoib Akhtar and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who arrived
in the Caribbean on Tuesday.
If they win, it will also be another case of history repeating itself.
In this competition, they came in at the finals after losing both
preliminary matches against the West Indies.
Three years ago at the World Series Cup in Australia, they lost three
of their four early matches to the West Indies, but turned the tables
in the two-best-of-three finals by easily winning the first two
matches.
Queen's Park Oval, the largest of the venues in the Caribbean, is
expected to attract crowds of more than 20 000 in both matches this
weekend.
Even if Pakistan wrap up the championship today, the third final will
still be played tomorrow.