Cable and Wireless ODIs: West Indies make it alright

Port-Of-Spain - Bob Marley's One Love echoed through the speakers in the Trini Posse Stand just before 4 p.m. yesterday.

And the Posse, in the company of their Bajan counterparts, joined in with the song's most catchy line: 'Everything's gonna be alright.'

Within an hour, their prediction was realised as the West Indies completed a sterling fightback with a victory by 60 runs.

It sets the stage for a fitting climax today to the Caribbean's first triangular limited-overs competition.

An hour earlier, however, the more than 20 000 people packed into the Queen's Park Oval were in a despondent mood in the face of a strong Pakistan run-chase.

The sound of a dropped pin could hardly be heard when Pakistan, in pursuit of 209 from 50 overs to achieve an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match finals, were 79 for three in the 18th over.

Reon King, uncharacteristically wayward in an opening spell of three overs that cost 19, was summoned by captain Jimmy Adams to check a Pakistan advance that was up with the 4.18 asking rate.

King's response was devastating. The tall fast bower generated an electrifying atmosphere around the ground with arguably the two most important wickets of the match in successive balls.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, 'Mr. Consistent' throughout a series that brought him 262 runs in his five previous innings, was prised out for his first failure by a delivery that beat him for pace and sharp inward movement.

An almost identical delivery triggered the demise of Yousaf Youhana next ball. He, like Inzamam, was palpably lbw.

Those wickets broke the backbone of Pakistan, but the contributions of all the bowlers, especially Nixon McLean and the unlikely trump cards, Adams and Chris Gayle were just as important.

McLean removed the positive openers Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir after King's problems with the new ball, while Adams, who modestly calls himself a 'slow bowler', and Gayle, a decent off-spinner at times, delivered 20 overs between them in which they shared five wickets and conceded 49 runs.

Both struck early in the piece, Adams' left-arm spin bowling Abdur Razzaq behind his legs in his second over, and Gayle having the assured Younis Khan lbw for the topscore of 31 in his first over.

When Wasim Akram was stumped off Gayle, Pakistan were dead and almost buried at 108 for seven, heralding the lyrics of Marley's classic.

In the end, the unpredictable Asians managed 148. It was the tenth time in 14 matches since the World Cup that they were unsuccessful in chasing a winning target.

West Indies' 208 for eight off their 50 overs was built around Man-Of-The-Match's Sherwin Campbell's 77 after Adams chose to bat first. There were also useful runs from the youthful Jamaican trio of Gayle, Ricardo Powell and Wavell Hinds.

Once more, the hosts found themselves bogged down in the middle of the innings, mainly against the consistent leg-spinner Mushtaq and the nagging medium-pace of Razzaq.

Even with the threat of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis with the new ball, the first 50 was posted in a reasonable 15 overs.

From the time the field restrictions were eased, however, and Mushtaq came into the attack, Campbell and Hinds were restricted on a pitch of low bounce.

The leg-spinner bowled ten consecutive overs for 34 runs - a continuation of his effective performances in every match.

Hinds approached his batting with more urgency than in his three previous innings, but he was plucked out by a breath-taking diving catch by Afridi at backward point.

It was not until Gayle arrived at 84 for three just after the half-way stage that the tempo was increased, but his second successive run-out and Adams' fourth in five matches were crucial setbacks.

Adams, searching for a tight single close in, was plucked out by wicket-keeper Moin Khan's direct throw at the bowler's end, while Gayle suffered a similar fate at the hand of Mushtaq at mid-off after confidently hitting his way to 33 off 35 balls.

Powell arrived for the final 12 overs and was in the same mood that brought him a whirlwind half-century in Grenada last weekend.

He clouted Razzaq onto the cycle track for his customary six and was largely responsible for the 72 runs the West Indies raised in the last 12 overs before skiing a catch to extra-cover.

Campbell, the designated sheet-anchor, slowed after passing his first 35 that included a few off-side drives.

He would have been aiming to bat through the innings once Powell was out, but provided a catch to short fine-leg in the 47th over. His 77 off 127 balls was his third score of more than 50 in the series.

As it turned out, it was a match-winning effort.