West Indies v Pakistan at Georgetown 5-9 May 2000 (Col (Retd) Rafi Nasim) Day1 | Day2 | Day3 | Day4 | Day5 Day1: Pakistan recovers after early disaster Having won the toss, the West Indies elected to field first on a pitch likely to help the bowlers. Pakistan making a disastrous start, Jimmy Adam's decision had proved correct as well as lucky. With the star opener Saeed Anwar down with an injury, Pakistan had played with a make shift opening pair throughout the one-day series. The arrangement that worked well, some how flopped in this match. Except for Inzamam-ul-Haq who was a consistent scorer during the one-day series and Abdur Razzaq, no other batsman could face the fiery and accurate bowling of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh with confidence. It was the remarkable combination of length, direction and bounce that devastated the first half of Pakistan's batting line. Having lost 4 wickets for only 28 runs in the first hour, Pakistan was in deep trouble. The 5th wicket fell at 39, thus sending half the Pakistan team back to the pavilion. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Abdur Razzaq who had just come off the injured list, however, succeeded in stemming the rot taking the score to 68 for 5 at lunch. The team was not yet out of trouble. It needed a long partnership between these two batsmen. Lucky for Pakistan, the terror of the West Indies bowling came to a rest. With a determined stay at the crease the pair brought Pakistan's 100 on the board. It was a heroic effort on the part of the two batsmen to hold their own and keep the score board moving on such a difficult pitch. Though not taking undue risks the two batsmen were now hitting occasional boundaries, leading their team on the path of safety. Though Razzaq was hit by the ball a few times he showed tremendous courage to hold the ground after receiving first aid. With their heroic stand, the two batsmen raised Pakistan to 143 for 5 at tea. Inzamam (76) and Razzaq (46) were holding the crease. It was a marvelous recovery. After thoroughly enjoying the tea break, the pair returned to the crease with high spirits. In the first over after tea Inzamam-ul-Haq hit Reon King for two fours. By hitting repeated shots to the boundary, Inzamam-ul-Haq entertained the crowd a lot. Having scored 92 runs in 150 balls, all eyes were set on his century. Being in the nervous 90s, he slowed down his tempo of scoring for some time. There came the long awaited moment of rejoicing for Pakistan when Inzamam-ul-Haq completed his well-deserved 100. His 10th test century had come in 178 balls. In the mean time, his partner at the crease Abdur Razzaq had reached 75. As the result of a heroic fight back by the two players, Pakistan was almost back in the game. On account of fading light the play was called off after 86 overs, with Pakistan at 221 for 5. After playing a fantastic game, Inzamam (117 not out) and Razzaq (80 not out) were in full command of the situation. Having piled up a respectable total of 221, Pakistan was in a happy position to resume the innings on Saturday. Day2: First test evenly poised Pakistan resumed the innings with a face saving score of 221 for 5 piled up due to an unruffled stand at the wicket by Inzamam-ul-Haq 116 not out and Abdur Razzaq 80 not out. The West Indies launched the attack with Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. The pre-lunch period was a two hours session of insipid batting during which, Pakistan scored only 41 runs in 25 overs. The salient features of the session were that Inzamam-ul-Haq was out after scoring invaluable 135 runs, Abdur Razzaq only added 7 runs in 81 balls to his overnight score of 80, Wasim Akram survived two chances in the first over of his taking the crease and Sherwin Campbell leaving the field for being unwell. At lunch, Pakistan was 262 for 6. While Abdur Razzaq was batting at 87, Wasim Akram was at the crease with 16 runs. Having dropped some important catches, the West Indies fielding was also not at its very best. The after lunch session brought a lucky break for the West Indies who managed to clinch the remaining four wickets one after the other. The most spectacular gain for the West Indies was the ouster of Abdur Razzaq, who in partnership with Inzamam-ul-Haq was instrumental in building the Pakistan's innings and bringing it to a respectable level. He played a marvelous innings of 87. The missing of his well-deserved century was, however, a disappointment for the Pakistan team. The tailenders not being able to hold the innings for long. Pakistan was all out for a fighting score of 288. Ending up with such a total, after a start as dismal as 5 for 39 was a great achievement for Pakistan. It displayed an admirable fighting spirit possessed by the team. The West Indies commenced the innings with Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Griffith but lost the important wicket of Campbell with only 2 runs on the board. Then came a very solid partnership between Griffith and Hinds. The two batsmen faced the Pakistan bowlers with immense confidence, hitting their shots all over the ground. At times, looking invincible, they punished the bowlers with impunity. Tragedy struck the Windies when Abdur Razzaq trapped Griffith LBW for a very well played 34. The West Indies was now 69 for 2. Only with the addition of 10 runs to the total, the West Indies lost Hinds, smartly stumped by Moin off Mushtaq. He had contributed extremely valuable 34 runs. Skipper Jimmy Adamas and Chanderpaul, now holding the crease were not being allowed to open up by the Pakistani spinners. The pace of scoring thus came down considerably. Both of them were at the crease when 100 of the innings came up in 43 overs. On account of fading light, the umpires decided to call off the play. The Windies were 101 for 3 with Adams (16) and Chanderpaul not out with 9 runs Day3: West Indies recover after the early shock On account of heavy rain lot of water had collected on the ground. Although the pitch and the square were covered, lot of work was required to make the venue playable. The ground staff of the Bourda Oval put in strenuous work, using all available devices for draining water. They succeeded in making the ground playable. The game thus started with a delay of 3 hours. The West Indies resumed at the overnight score of 101 for 3 but lost Jimmy Adams in the very first over off Mushtaq Ahmed. Some how the West Indies were not steady in their approach to the game with the result that they lost two more wickets of Gayle (13) and Jacobs (6) cheaply. They had lost 6 wickets for 139 runs on the board and were in real trouble. The partnership between Chanderpaul and Nixon McLean brought some steadiness to their innings. Playing safe and scoring at a steady pace they took the score to 176 for 6 by the tea break. Chanderpaul (37) and McLean (17) held the crease with immense courage. The two players looking energized after the tea break turned aggressive and started piling up runs at a much faster pace. Out of the two Nixon McLean punished the bowlers hard by hitting boundaries one after the other. Continuing with the run scoring spree, McLean brought 200 of the innings by hitting Mushtaq for 3 fours in one over. The two batsmen looked almost in full command of the game, till the second new ball was taken. Wasim Akram bowled the first over with no effect, while Waqar Younis bowling from the other end got Nixon McLean out on the very first ball. McLean had played an exciting innings of 46 runs. This took West Indies to 213 for 7. The game was suspended for bad light when the West Indies were 222 for 7 Chanderpaul, playing the sheet anchor was not out with 46 runs. After periodical inspections by the Umpires, it was decided that the light was not enough to resume the game. The play was thus called off, to be resumed on Monday 30 minutes before the schedule time. Day4: 4th day's play abandoned due to heavy rain On account of heavy torrential rain during the night and the downpour continuing, the Bourda Oval ground is fully submerged in water. The resumption of the game looking impossible, the teams have been asked to stay at the hotel till the probability of the game appears. The efforts to drain out water and prepare the ground can only start once the rain stops. According to weather forecast steady rain is expected the whole day. Presently there is no chance of resumption of play. The umpires are awaited to give their final verdict. The umpires having seen the weather condition and the condition of the ground decides that the ground could not be cleared and dried to start the play on 4th day. It was therefor decided to abandon the match for today. Day: First test ends in a damp draw The West Indies having squarely defeated Zimbabwe in tests as well as one-day series and Pakistan clinched the Wireless and Cable Trophy 2000, the two sides appeared evenly poised. The interest of the spectators in the Caribbeans and cricket lovers all over the world was now focussed on the test series between the two great teams. The 1st test at Guyana was the center of attraction. The two sides were well prepared for the contest and it was generally said that the bowlers having dominated the one-day series, it was now the turn of the batsmen to show their prowess. The 1st test thus commenced at the Bourda Oval with the West Indies skipper Jimmy Adams winning the toss and electing to bowl. Though the pitch was said to help the batsmen it did not do so to the desired extent. With the star opener Saeed Anwar down with an injury, Pakistan had played with a make-shift opening pair throughout the one-day series. The arrangement that worked well, somehow flopped during this test. Pakistan made a disastrous start by losing 5 wickets for only 39 runs. The side was in deep trouble till Inzamam-ul-Haq and Abdur Razzaq succeeded in stemming the rot. With a determined stay at the wickets, the two batsmen brought the terror of the West Indies bowling to rest. It was really a heroic effort to keep the scored board moving on a difficult pitch. By the end of the first day play the pair had raised Pakistan's score to 221 for 5, with Inzamam-ul-Haq having played the sheet anchor with a marvelous innings of 116 not out and Razzaq having scored a prolific 80 not out. The two batsmen had compensated the team for its earlier debacle. Pakistan was no more in crisis. Resuming the innings on the 2nd day with a face saving score of 221 for 5, Pakistan's batting was not very enterprising. The after lunch session brought a lucky break for the West Indies who managed to clinch the remaining wickets one after the other. While Inzamam-ul-Haq was out before lunch after playing an invaluable innings of 135, the most spectacular gain for the West Indies was the ouster of Abdur Razzaq who in partnership with Inzamam-ul-Haq was instrumental in building the Pakistan's innings. He played a marvelous innings of 87. The tail-enders not being able to hold the innings for long, Pakistan was all out for 288. Opening their innings the West Indies lost their star opener Sherwin Campbell with only 2 runs on the board. Adrian Griffith was the second to go after scoring 34 bringing West Indies to 69 for 2. The West Indies were 101 for 3 by end of the day. The three hours play was lost on the 3rd day on account of rain. The West Indies not being steady in their approach to the game lost three more wickets, going down to 139 for 6. The partnership between Chanderpaul and Nixon McLean brought some sanity to the game playing some aggressive strokes the two of them were in full command of the game till McLean was out after playing an exciting innings of 46. This took the West Indies to 213 for 7. The game was suspended for bad light when the West Indies were at 222 for 7. Chanderpaul, playing the sheet anchor was not out at 46. The torrential rains having submerged the Bourda Oval, no play was possible on the 4th and 5th day. The test was thus abandoned as draw.