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Danish Kaneria has West Indies in a tail spin
by AFP


Ground:Sabina Park, Kingston
Scorecard:West Indies v Pakistan
Player:Danish Kaneria, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shabbir Ahmed, S Chanderpaul, BC Lara
Event:Pakistan in West Indies 2004/05

DateLine: 7th June 2005

 

Danish Kaneria ended with five wickets in an innings for the 11th time in Tests, as Pakistan completed a 136-run victory in the second and final Test against West Indies and record their first test win in the Caribbean since 1988.

 

Victory earned Pakistan a 1-1 draw in the series, after West Indies, who were beaten 2-0 at home by South Africa in their most recent Test series, and then lost eight consecutive One-day Internationals to the Proteas and Pakistan, won the first Test at Bridgetown by 276 runs.

 

West Indies defied Pakistan for 12.4 overs in close to an hour on the last day before they were dismissed for a modest 143 to cap another dreadful second innings batting performance.

 

"The boys really worked hard, and all credit must go them for us winning this game because it's been 11 months of continuous cricket," Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq told reporters after the match.

 

"I think it was a great effort to have come back from defeat in the first Test.

 

"It was a close match, but I think the difference was the bowling of Danish in the second innings. He bowled tremendously well, and it was never going to be easy batting on this pitch on the fourth and fifth day."

 

Kaneria took five wickets for 46 runs from 20 overs and was the surprising choice for Man-of-the-Match.

 

Fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed, whose bowling action was reported to the International Cricket Council last week, supported Kaneria with four wickets for 55 runs from 18.5 overs.

 

"I want to thank God Almighty for helping me to come back after I did not bowl too well in the first Test in Barbados, and the captain showed a lot of confidence in me, and I used the occasion to do my best for the team," Kaneria said.

 

"I bowled a little quicker in this match because the pitch was giving me a lot of assistance, different to Barbados, where the turn was slow and the pitch was good for the batsmen."

 

West Indies had resumed from their overnight position of 114 for six, and the overnight pair of Courtney Browne and Daren Powell put up a little resistance.

 

In the eighth over of the day however, Powell was caught at silly mid-off for 12 to give Kaneria his fifth wicket, and it did not take too long following his departure for the end to come.

 

Shabbir hastened it when he had Browne and Reon King caught behind for 10 and four respectively, and ended the match when Tino Best was caught at mid-off for four in the space of 15 balls.

 

"Credit must be given to Pakistan," West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul conceded.

 

"They played very well to come-from-behind, and win this game. The pitch always had a little bit in it for the bowlers, and they put the ball in the right areas, and that helped them to come out on top.

 

"But it was still a decent series for us. We won the first Test, and we were able to bowl out Pakistan twice in both Tests. This shows that we can improve, and we are improving, and if we put in the hard work, we can get something in return."

 

West Indies had the satisfaction of batting kingpin Brian Lara being named Man-of-the-Series for his hundreds in each of the two Tests.

 

"It was a good home season for me, I scored four hundreds in five matches, but I did not do anything in the second innings of this Test match when it was most needed," Lara said.

 

"We really needed a series victory to give us a boost of confidence, after losing to South Africa, and we were well placed coming into this Test after winning in Barbados.

 

"I think we have shown major improvements in our fielding, but hopefully we can work on our batting and bowling in the matches coming up."

 

West Indies travel in July to Sri Lanka for a series of two Tests, and a three-nation limited-overs series involving the hosts and India.

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)

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