VB Series, the triangular One-Day tournament in Australia is already in progress, which besides Australia also features West Indies and Pakistan. The Pakistani contingent seems to be better equipped to face the challenge since the injured captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq and sick all-rounder Abdul Razzaq are fit and ready to play. Incidentally, the triangular tournament will be a litmus test, both for the players and for the coaches of the both teams.
Though it is too early to say anything or predict the final outcome of the tournament, Australia appears to have the upper hand and seems to have booked the front seat. In teh very first match, they elected to bat after winning the toss, and handed a target of 302 runs to the West Indies to win. A task of making slightly six runs an over proved beyond the domain of the West Indians. Damien Martyn and captain, Ricky Ponting, did not believe in leaving anything for the late order batsmen. Being in superb form, they showed no respect to the West Indian attack and went on to score 95 and 78 runs respectively. They were very well supported by Clarke who made a very useful 66 runs. Nothing threatened or even worried the Australian camp as the West Indian bowling, though trying their best, could not deter the Australian from reaching their well-thought out target of 300-plus runs. Ponting and Michael who was promoted in the batting order, laid the foundation and Martyn finishing the innings with a flurry of boundaries and a six completed the job.
Martyn really is in fantastic form but was unfortunate to miss his century.
The West Indian spinners were able to check and managed to restrict the run rate for a while though, but nothing could stop the Australians from dominating the game.
Went into bat, West Indians were in doldrums early in the innings. They were simply unable to face the hostile Australian bowling. Only captain Brian Lara and Chanderpaul showed dedication and put up some resistance in the way of the Australian victory. Brian Lara, as usual, put up a gallant fight with his 58 runs duly supported by his lieutenant, Chanderpaul, who went on to make 56 runs. The rest of the team was an easy prey. They simply did not know how to play Hogg, who took five wickets for a very miserly 32 runs — his career best.
The match was sealed and the result was already out. Later on, down-the-order batsmen too failed to answer to some very questioning and talented bowling by Hogg. Australia lived up to their reputation, but for their fielding. That it did not have any effect on the final result and did not matter in the end, yet Australians seemed to lack the vigilant fielding. They dropped many catches giving chances to the batsmen. This is a weakness that could cost Australia dearly and they definitely need to check this area, if they wish to remain on top.
The tournament would be a good test of the technical skills and coaching abilities of both, Bob Woolmer — the coach for the Pakistani team and Bennet King — the coach for the West Indian team. Woolmer has been training and coaching the Pakistani team for some time now but King took over the assignment quite recently. The latest performance of the West Indians does not reflect much improvement, but things are moving and the next few matches would reveal what’s in the bag.
However, recalling some players from home and dropping some, Pakistan are expected to perform better than their recent pathetic and disappointing display with the bat and ball. If the result of the first match of the VB triangular tournament is any indication of how the wind is blowing, Pakistan stands a good chance to make it to the final.
VB Series, the triangular One-Day tournament in Australia is already in progress, which besides Australia also features West Indies and Pakistan. The Pakistani contingent seems to be better equipped to face the challenge since the injured captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq and sick all-rounder Abdul Razzaq are fit and ready to play. Incidentally, the triangular tournament will be a litmus test, both for the players and for the coaches of the both teams.
