Port-Of-Spain – The West Indies all but let the first Test slip fromtheir grasp yesterday

19-Mar-2000Port-Of-Spain – The West Indies all but let the first Test slip fromtheir grasp yesterday.Once more obliged to defend an inadequate first innings total, theyhad dropped the opposition’s captain and best batsman twice on thesecond day and proceded to put him down twice more.The left-handed Andy Flower duly made the most of the let-offs – and alucky umpiring break before he had scored on Friday – to accumulate adetermined, unbeaten 113 and lead Zimbabwe to a total of 236 and alead of 49.It threatened to be substantially more until Chris Gayle, an unlikelydestroyer with his steady off-breaksanddrifters, despatched threeof the last four wickets that fell for four runs to round off anotherentralling, if rain-shortened, day reduced to 52 overs by two earlyinterruptions.The pitch, slow from the start, is still in relatively good shape butcan be expected to be increasingly inconsistent in bounce. A winninglast day target of anything over 220 would not be straightforward butit means the West Indies have to total at least 280 batting a secondtime, not a figure they have consistently managed of late.Zimbabwe would have been nowhere without their solid captain and thelargesse of the West Indian fielders.Jimmy Adams at gully and substitute Ricardo Powell at third slip hadmissed just possible chances on the previous afternoon with Flower 14and 38.The morning was only a few minutes old when he had his third life. Awicket had fallen in the first over on each of the first two days butShivnarine Chanderpaul at third slip broke the sequence, missing acatch high to his right off Courtney Walsh’s fourth ball before Flowerhad added to his overnight 52.He had scored only eight more when Gayle at first slip, possibly putoff by wicket-keeper Ridley Jacob’s initial movement, let an easieredged offerring off Curtly Ambrose burst through his grasp immediatelyon resumption from the second break for rain.Flower had also gained umpire Steve Bucknor’s favourable verdict theprevious day on a palpable catch at the wicket off the glove fromWalsh before he had made a run but such alarms never distracted himfrom his purpose.He is by no means a fluent strokemaker and, with its edges and misses,this was a resolute, rather than classical, innings. Yet theZimbabwean’s record cannot be questioned. This was his seventh hundredin his 40th Test and only Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Steve Waughand Saeed Anwar of contemporary batsmen can claim a higher averagethan his 46.Flower’soff-side strength was evident by the accumulation of 11 ofhis 12 boundaries between third man and mid-off.It was, in the real sense of the term, a captain’s innings.He entered just before tea on the second afternoon in the potentialcrisis of 27 for three and shared two vital partnerships.He and the right-handed opener Trevor Gripper extended theirfourth-wicket stand from 82 at the start to 117 before a slip catchfinally stuck, allowing the persevering Curtly Ambrose to dislodgeGripper for 41 that occupied five-and-a-quarter hours and 212 balls.Ambrose immediately found another outside edge on the other side toremove the inform left-hander Alistair Campbell, second ball, toJacobs’ low catch and bowled Stuart Carlisle with a breakback in thelast over before tea with Zimbabwe still 23 short of the modest WestIndies effort.It seemed the West Indies had seized the advantage, especially as thesecond ball was taken immediately on resumption. But they suddenly andinexplicably went flat.Their earlier unstinting efforts had sapped the energy of Ambrose andWalsh, Reon King posed few threats through a spell of ten consecutiveovers and with Franklyn Rose off the field for a treatment to a toeinjury, Flower and Heath Streak were able to bat comfortably in astand of 68 that lasted just under two hours.Faced with such realities, Jimmy Adams opted for defensive tactics andturned to the off-spin of Gayle in the hope of a bonus wicket.The 20-year-old Gayle has proved a valuable find in his debut Test.He batted confidently for 33 on the opening day, seems settled atfirst slip inspite of his miss and now had Streak neatly taken byCampbell at slip, edging a drive at a ball that floated away.In the next over, Rose, back after a precautionary check at a clinic,had a deserving wicket, Brian Murphy lbw, and Gayle cleaned up thingsby bowling Henry Olonga and Pom Mbangwa with successive balls.Flower walked wearily off, disappointed that his dedication had notcreated a more favourable position.He was followed by Adams and his team, all of whom must be aware thatthere is still a lot of cricket left in the match.