‘Farewell win was for Bob’

Published March 23, 2007

KINGSTON, March 22: An emotional Inzamam-ul-Haq dedicated his last match as captain and as a one-day player to coach Bob Woolmer, who died suddenly at the weekend, following Pakistan's World Cup win over Zimbabwe.

Pakistan, already eliminated from the competition, romped to a 93-run victory over Zimbabwe on Wednesday just three days after Woolmer's death rocked the competition.

“This game was difficult because we had dedicated it to Bob and we said before the match 'we are down but we will get up and give out 100 percent effort for Bob',” Inzamam told reporters.

“The last three or four days have been very difficult for all the players and we were under a lot of stress but we came out and we did it for Bob.”

Zimbabwe were also knocked out of the tournament, leaving hosts West Indies and Ireland to progress to the Super Eights from Group D.

Emotions in the Pakistan camp have been running high ever since Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room on Sunday.

He was pronounced dead in hospital later that day, less than 24 hours after his team had been knocked out of the tournament following a shock defeat at the hands of debutants Ireland.

Coupled with Inzamam's decision to retire from one-day cricket and quit as Test captain, Wednesday proved to be an end of era for the sub-continent side.

The team gave Inzy a guard of honour after his innings of 37 and he had to wipe away tears from his face as he walked through the players' wall of appreciation.

“Definitely it's an emotional time for me because I love this game and when you love something it's not easy to leave it,” said Inzamam.

“I was emotional anyway but with Bob not being here made me extra emotional.”

Inzamam said he had no regrets about walking away from one-day cricket.

“This is a very difficult decision that I've taken because I've played for the last 17 years and to play for Pakistan is a great honour. But I've enjoyed my cricket and it's been a great passion for me,” he said.—Reuters

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