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| March 19, 2007 | Monday | Safar 29, 1428 |
West Indies one victory away from Super Eights
KINGSTON, March 18: Hosts West Indies could become the first side to confirm a place in the Super Eights at the World Cup, when they face Zimbabwe at Sabina Park here on Monday.
West Indies had the perfect start to the first World Cup ever staged on Caribbean soil, when they prevailed over Pakistan by 54 runs in the opening match of the competition last Tuesday.
Events over the last few days, however, will make West Indies aware that they cannot take the Zimbabweans too lightly, or else they may be embarrassed in much the same way Ireland shamed Pakistan on Saturday.
“Everyone is trying to make a name for themselves so we cannot underestimate anyone,” opener and former captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul said.
“We have to go out and play it hard and take it to the end. We've been doing a lot of work, we're well prepared. We don't know what is going to happen in that game, but hopefully we can go out and get the win.”
Match starts at 7:30pm
Expected weather: Partly to mostly cloudy skies with a few showers possible. High temperature: near to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Winds: from East North East at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30 per cent.
Pitch: Hard and true, but Saturday's was a little too helpful for the seam bowlers.
The Irish victory on Saturday handed Pakistan their second straight defeat in the competition, following their downfall to West Indies.
Ireland's win also provisionally puts them in the lead of Group D with three points – one more than West Indies and two ahead of Zimbabwe (both with a match in hand) – leaving Pakistan at the bottom of the table with no points.
Pakistan contest their final match on Wednesday against Zimbabwe hoping to finish on a winning note, and the Irish and West Indies close off the group matches on Friday.
“I haven't seen much of the other matches due to practice and other team matters,” Chanderpaul said.
The Sabina Park pitch has been the topic of much consideration, following Saturday's match, but Chanderpaul believes batsmen have to be more patient to score runs.
“It's not like the Sabina Park pitches in the past,” he said.
“It's not a bad surface. It's a decent track, but you need to work hard on it.
“It's a bit slow, and the ball stands up a little more. It does a bit but because it doesn't have the pace on it, you can't really go through with the shot, and you have to play a bit more patiently.”
Zimbabwe will have to defy history to overcome West Indies.
They have never beaten the hosts in a World Cup match in four attempts, and they have also lost the two one-dayers they have contested against them at Sabina Park.
They should have won their match against Ireland comfortably, but almost lost the match, and had to settle for a tie which may prompt them to make some changes to their line-up.
Teams (from):
WEST INDIES: Brian Lara (captain), Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor.
ZIMBABWE: Prosper Utseya (captain), Gary Brent, Justice Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Terry Duffin, Anthony Ireland, Friday Kasteni, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Edward Rainsford, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Brendon Taylor, Sean Williams.
Umpires: Brian Jerling (South Africa) and Billy Bowden (New Zealand).
TV umpire: Simon Taufel (Australia).
Reserve umpire: Ian Gould (England).
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka).—AFP
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