Lara sparkles in Windies win

HOBART: Brian Lara hit an undefeated hundred at better than a run-a-ball to lead his side to a four-wicket triumph over Australia “A” in their limited-overs practice cricket match yesterday. Lara hit 11 fours and four sixes, including one over mid-on off Brett Lee that went through a tree and on to a nearby road, in the top score of 116 not out from 86 balls.

Lara added 104 for the fifth wicket with fellow left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul, as West Indies successfully chased 264 from their allocation of 50 overs to land the jackpot with eight balls to spare. Courtney Browne, one of the heroes of West Indies triumph in last September’s ICC Champions Trophy, had the privilege of hitting the winning run when he clipped Dominic Thornely through the leg-side for the second of his two boundaries.

“It’s nice to do it in the second match, to get a hundred and show the guys what is necessary for us to win,” Lara told reporters.  “We’ve always had the players, but it’s about harnessing the talent and getting it working cohesively towards winning and hopefully our new coach Bennett King will be capable of doing this. “We know we’re playing against the world champions Australia, while Pakistan is a very good outfit, although unpredictable at times. But we came here to win and we’d be disappointed if we don’t.”

It was not all a bed of roses for West Indies though. Dave Hussey smote a dozen boundaries and a six in 128 from 123 balls to lead Australia “A” to 263 for eight off their allotment of 50 overs. Hussey shared a stand of 152 for the sixth wicket with Cameron White, whose 61 off 57 balls contained one four and two sixes. All-rounder Dwayne Bravo was the pick of the West Indies’ bowlers with four wickets for 42 runs from ten overs. His scalps included Hussey, who was bowled with three balls left in the Australia “A” innings. In response, the visitors slumped to 106 for four in the 25th over, although opening batsman Chris Gayle provided the early pyrotechnics with two fours and three sixes in 40 from 32 balls. Wavell Hinds was caught behind for nine in the 10th over off Damien Wright, who also had Gayle caught at first slip two overs later to leave West Indies 52 for two. Teenager Xavier Marshall, batting at three in his first match for West Indies, nervously negotiated 16 deliveries before he was caught at deep mid wicket off  Thornely for 11 in the 15th over.

Lara joined Ramnaresh Sarwan and they succeeded in temporarily stopping the rot with a stand of 37 before the latter was run out for 18 after consultation with the television replay umpire. Looking for a quick single to mid on, Sarwan failed to beat Marcus North’s direct hit at the bowler’s end in the 25th over. Lara however, transformed the complexion of the match with some extraordinary batting to guide West Indies to a morale-boosting win ahead of their opening match in the three-nation limited-overs series against hosts Australia on Friday at Melbourne. The West Indies captain was extremely severe on the spin bowling of White and Nathan Hauritz, as the ten overs they shared cost 78 runs. He shared 104 for the fifth wicket with fellow left-hander and new West Indies vice-captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who had just three boundaries in 42 from 59 balls.

Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels fell within four overs of each other inside the last ten overs of the match, but Lara continued to hold sway. Earlier, the West Indies bowling had endured a rough time at the hands of Hussey, who had scored 83 against them in a match earlier in the week. After Australia “A” had declined to 102 for five in the 30th over, the visiting bowlers saw Hussey and White stroke the ball with crisp assurance, mixing aggression with sound defence and good running between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking over at a steady rate. Gayle however, broke through with his uncomplicated off-spin bowling in the 49th over to have White caught in the covers before the innings subsided.