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| November 14, 2005 | Monday | Shawwal 11, 1426 |
Chanderpaul helps Windies secure draw
SYDNEY, Nov 13: West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored a defiant half-century to help the tourists draw their three-day match against Victoria in Melbourne on Sunday.
Chanderpaul top-scored with a patient 59 from 177 balls after all rounder Marlon Samuels struck a brisk 50 the previous day to help West Indies make 302 in reply to Victoria’s first innings of 571.
With less than a session left in the match and no real hope of a result, both teams agreed to settle for a draw and play an impromptu Twenty20 match to entertain the crowd.
All rounder Dwayne Smith boosted his chances of a call-up for the second test against Australia, starting in Hobart on Thursday.
Smith captured three wickets and scored 40 with the bat in the three-day match, then blasted an unbeaten 81 from just 40 balls in the Twenty20 match, which Victoria won by four wickets.
The West Indians lost the first test in Brisbane with a day to spare but Chanderpaul, who batted for more than four and a half hours to help secure the draw with Victoria, said his team would have to adopt a more cautious approach in Hobart.
“This is one of those games where you want to spend time in the middle and it has done some good for us,” Chanderpaul said.
“You have to get the balance right and put your head down and bat instead of playing all these shots that can get you out.
“They can get you runs also, but a test match is five days, a long game, and you want to be showing some patience out there.”
Meanwhile, Chanderpaul has called on his West Indies team to curb their batting flamboyance ahead of the second cricket Test against Australia, starting in Hobart on Thursday.
The skipper is looking for more caution to avert the batting calamities the tourists endured during the 379-run first Brisbane Test drubbing.
“We came off a one-day tournament (before this tour) and you have to get the balance right and put your head down and bat instead of playing all these shots that can get you out,” Chanderpaul said.
“We’ve played two games, one before the Test match and the Test match, and not much happened for me and some of the other guys, and this is one of those games where you want to spend time in the middle and it has done some good for us.”
Match scores: Victoria 571, West Indies 302.—Agencies
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