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PORT-OF-SPAIN, May 25: A classy 80 by Brian Lara guided West Indies to 290 for five on Sunday and gave his team a real chance of ending Australia’s run of 21 consecutive One-day International victories.
Lara, who batted at number three in an attempt to bring stability to the West Indies’ upper order, shared a 178-run partnership with opener Wavell Hinds on a pitch starting to deteriorate.
The West Indies skipper barely had time to pad up after winning the toss when opener Chris Gayle (5) was trapped lbw pace bowler Brett Lee.
Lara played himself in against some hostile bowling by Lee and Glenn McGrath and began to stroke the ball around with ease.
Hinds’s powerful drives provided a pleasing contrast to Lara’s deft strokes. The opener hit eight boundaries and crashed two mighty sixes into the stands to push up the West Indies’ run rate. He had scored 79 when an Andy Bichel had him caught.
After striking 10 boundaries, Lara paid the price for swinging wildly at three successive deliveries as Bichel got the edge to give Gilchrist another catch.
Ramnaresh Sarwan (32) and Marlon Samuels (42) took advantage as Lee and McGrath began to tire before Lee rallied to dismiss both batsmen,
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES:
C.H. Gayle lbw b Lee 5
W.W. Hinds c Gilchrist b Bichel 79
B.C. Lara c Gilchrist b Bichel 80
R.R. Sarwan c Gilchrist b Lee 32
M.N. Samuels lbw b Lee 42
R.L. Powell not out 20
R.D. Jacobs not out 7
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-11, W-11, NB-2) 25
TOTAL (for five wkts, 50 overs) 290
FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-183, 3-192, 4-263, 5-264.
DID NOT BAT: D.E. Bernard, R. Hurley, M. Dillon, C.D. Collymore.
BOWLING: McGrath 10-0-46-0 (3w); Lee 10-2-56-3 (2nb, 1w); Harvey 10-1-46-0; Bichel 10-0-67-2; Hauritz 6-0-38-0 (1w); Clarke 4-0-25-0.
AUSTRALIA: A.C. Gilchrist, J.P. Maher, R.T. Ponting, A. Symonds, M.J. Clarke, M.G. Bevan, I.J. Harvey, A.J. Bichel, N.M. Hauritz, B. Lee, G.D. McGrath.—Reuters
