da marjack bet： West Indies were 266-3 at the end of the first day of three playing NewZealand A in the opening first class fixture of their tour
Peter Hoare05-Dec-1999West Indies were 266-3 at the end of the first day of three playing NewZealand A in the opening first class fixture of their tour. The game isbeing played at Owen Delaney Park Taupo, perhaps the only first class groundin the world with a snow capped, active volcano as part of the skyline.The highlight of the day was an unbroken partnership of 111 betweenShivnarine Chanderpaul and Ricardo Powell which combined vintage Caribbeanstrokeplay with a circumspection often absent from recent performances.The West Indians chose to omit three players who seem certain of a place inthe first test which begins in Hamilton in eleven days time. Captain BrianLara, opener Sherwin Campbell and fast bowler Franklyn Rose were left out ofa starting XI picked with a view to giving fringe players a chance to staketheir claim.New Zealand A made one change from the team that played England A inChristchurch, dropping medium pace allrounder Wayne Wisneski in favour ofleg spinner Brooke Walker.Acting West Indies captain Jimmy Adams won the toss and chose to bat in nearperfect conditions, with a clear blue sky and moderate breeze. The pitch wasreasonably paced and even in bounce but offered little movement to thequicker bowlers. There was some turn for the spinners.The only wicket to fall in the first session was that of Ganga, run out by adirect hit from Sinclair at mid off. Ganga’s 28 included four boundaries andhe was dismissed just as he appeared to be coming to terms with theconditions.This brought in Chanderpaul who accelerated the scoring rate. The Guyaneseleft hander used his feet impressively against off spinner Wiseman. By lunchChanderpaul had overtaken Adrian Griffith’s score with six boundaries to theopener’s two.The remainder of Chanderpaul’s innings was more sedate. He scored onlyeleven in the hour after tea. Yet he always appeared assured and proceededto a chanceless 100 which included fourteen fours in four hours twenty oneminutes. He was 116 not out at the close.Even more encouraging for the West Indian management was the performance ofPowell. He has not yet played test cricket, but has a reputation as a fastscorer in ODIs. Here he produced an array of shots which suggest that he isnot a slogger but an orthodox stroke maker of high class.His 68 not out featured, among much else to admire, a six liftedeffortlessly over mid off and a series of cover drives off front and backfoot. Sir Vivian Richards could be heard to purr as he passed by. Powellwill certainly be included in the test team next week and may remain therefor some years.Other West Indian batting was less convincing. Both Griffiths and WavellHinds found scoring difficult though both batted for some time. Both wereout to Paul Wiseman, Griffiths caught behind attempting to force through theoff side off the back foot and Hinds to a good, diving catch off bat and padby Styris at silly mid off.Wiseman deserved this reward as he was by some way the most impressive ofthe home bowlers. He was accurate, used the breeze intelligently andextracted turn and lift on a few occasions. He is favoured by thepreponderance of left handers in the West Indian batting line up, but it isunlikely that the New Zealand selectors will play two spinners in Hamiltonor that they will break their long standing commitment to Daniel Vettori.Home coach David Trist watched every ball from beside the sightscreen,making detailed notes. He will have seen little in the way of a solution tohis current fast bowling problems. With Allott definitely joining Doull onthe sidelines and Nash in serious doubt there is a place up for grabs forone of the A team opening bowlers, Penn and Drum.Neither took their chance today, both being erratic in line. Apparentlyeconomic figures (Penn 47 runs from 21 overs, Drum 47 from 17) werecompletely down to the batsmen leaving alone delivery after delivery outsidethe off stump.Medium paced Styris was also unpenetrative. Leg spinner Walker bowled mostlytidily and got a few to turn. He was unfortunate not to be used untilChanderpaul and Powell were established.A difficult day for New Zealand was compounded by the absence from the fieldof Matthew Bell with a potentially serious thumb injury which would seem tofinally put an end to his diminishing chances of test selection.With only one other game before the test practice rather than result will bethe priority for the West Indians. It may be well into the second day beforethe A team batsmen face the Caribbean pace attackUnfortunately, this excellent day’s cricket was witnessed by a sparse crowd.Perhaps more than in any other country the New Zealand cricket public hasforsaken the first class game in favour of the the shorter version.