da 888casino： Heath Streak must have felt a close affinity with the captain of the Titanicas he led the Zimbabwe team on to the field on the morning of the secondday
John Ward20-Jul-2001Heath Streak must have felt a close affinity with the captain of the Titanicas he led the Zimbabwe team on to the field on the morning of the secondday. However, his crew baled water manfully throughout most of the day,only to find at the close the water lapping over their decks. WestIndies finished with a score of 393 for three, a lead of 238.Apart from well over 1,000 enthusiastic schoolchildren bussed in oneach day of the match, spectators in Bulawayo seemed to be ignoring thismatch. Perhaps they have had a surfeit of cricket, perhaps they have becomedisillusioned with all the politics affecting the game, or perhaps they justanticipated the dismal Zimbabwean performance of the first day.Streak and Bryan Strang bowled with great purpose and accuracy from thestart of play, giving Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga very little opportunity for strokeplay, and two close lbw appeals were rejected. West Indies had resumed at 100 for no wicket, and one of the most pleasing aspects of this tour for them has been the development of Ganga and Gayle into a reliable andsuccessful opening partnership. Accurate bowling, though, often directedoutside off stump, restricted them to 23 runs in the first hour, with Gangareaching his fifty.When Streak and Strang were rested, though, runs began to come a little morefreely. But Zimbabwe were far more disciplined than they had been on dayone, and it was not until just before lunch that West Indies finally tookthe lead, without losing a wicket. It was not a morning for highlights, butthe main memories were two or three magnificent straight boundaries byGayle.Gayle had 96 at lunch, having passed his previous Test highest of 81, andhis century came in controversial circumstances. The Zimbabweans wereconvinced they had him caught at the wicket off Streak when still on 96,confirmed by television, but umpire Riazuddin disagreed; next ball a thickedge ran for four to third man.Ganga was to be denied a similar landmark, having 89 to his credit off 248balls when he drove straight back to Raymond Price to be caught and bowled.The partnership had put on 214 runs, equaling the highest ever opening standagainst Zimbabwe, by Craig Spearman and Roger Twose of New Zealand atAuckland in 1995/96.The taking of the second new ball inspired Gayle to his attacking best, 14runs coming off the first over by Andy Blignaut. Streak too came in forpunishment, and West Indies were surging ahead again at tea, with a score of261 for one.Shivnarine Chanderpaul (7) fell to the second ball after the interval, flicking a ball from Streak off his toes and Guy Whittall at square leg picked up a superb diving catch. Gayle continued to attack, but finally fell for 175 as hetried to clip a ball through mid-wicket and a leading edge resulted in aneasy catch at mid-on. He faced 255 balls and hit 34 fours. It was Gayle’s third century in four first-class innings, the other being a 99.Ramnaresh Sarwan and Carl Hooper now had to consolidate. As he settled in,Hooper began to play some of the superb straight drives so favoured byGayle. The bowling was generally tight but not dangerous, and Hooper wasfirst to his fifty. He had no intention of playing for the close, greetingthe return of Blignaut with two effortlessly driven fours to the off side.The hundred partnership came up, and by the close Hooper had 66, Sarwan 46,and both lived to fight another day.