St
Tony Cozier30-May-2000St. John’s – It was as close, tense and topsy-turvy as they come and
it took a captain’s innings of nerveless, single-minded determination,
combined with a helping of necessary luck, to resolve it. Jimmy Adams,
in his fifth Test at the helm of a team his leadership has
revitalised, kept his head and his wicket through three-and-a-quarter
hours of unrelenting pressure yesterday to guide the West Indies to
victory over Pakistan by one wicket in the third and final Test.Last man Courtney Walsh, unabashed holder of the record number of
ducks in Test cricket but an old hand in such situations, stayed with
Adams for an hour-and-a-quarter, surviving 24 balls to the delight of
the cheering, flag-waving stands as the final 19 runs were eeked out
in a match that remained in the balance throughout.When they scampered the decisive run on Adams’ bat-pad push into the
covers off Wasim Akram half-an-hour after lunch, the captain raised
his hands to the heavens, broke into a smile for the first time in the
five-and-a-half hours he had been in the middle and, physically and
emotionally drained by the effort, lay flat out on the grass.Almost immediately he was smothered under a heap of his jubilant
players, celebrating a triumph that clinched the threematch series
1-0 and kept intact the record of never losing a series in the
Caribbean to Pakistan.It was a replay of the scenes that followed a similarly pulsating,
one-wicket triumph over Australia at Kensington Oval just over a year
ago, also engineered by a left-handed captain who also had Walsh as
his partner at the finish.Brian Lara’s breathtaking strokeplay then may have been utterly
different in execution to Adams’, but both innings accurately typified
the two players.The Pakistanis trudged from the ground in the deep disappointment felt
by all sportsmen in such circumstances. They had muffed two glaring
run-out chances and justifiably believed they would have won but for
an umpiring error.Their frustration would have been even even more crushing.They had entered the match with the shadow of Judge Malik Qayyumís
match-fixing report hanging over their four more senior players, Wasim
Akram, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Waqar Younis.Something to proveIt was obvious they had something to prove, none more so than Akram,
the 33-year-old veteran of 95 Tests, whose 11 wickets for 110 from
56.2 tireless overs were gained by high quality left-arm swing
bowling.His duel with Adams was a fascinating battle within a battle, Test
cricket at its best within one of the finest of Tests.Adams, 15 at the start with the West Indies 72 away from their goal at
144 for four, kept going through 35.3 overs yesterday, 62.5 all told
for 48. Such was his defiant defence that he didn’t hit one boundary
off the 212 balls he received.The loss of Ramnaresh Sarwan in the day’s sixth over, lbw to Akram’s
dangerous inswing as he was in the first innings, meant the
responsibility rested wholly and almost solely on Adams.Not trusting his remaining partners to cope, he shielded them by
taking as much of the strike as he could from Akram, who bowled 17.3
tireless overs, in three spells from either end, to add to his 12.3 of
the previous day.Sticking unwaveringly to his calculated plan, Adams consistently
refused blatant singles to deep-set fields to ensure Akram wouldn’t
get at the shaky tail.While he faced 141 balls on the day, the others only had to deal with
78, mostly from spinners Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq who sent
down 13 overs between them. Strangely, Moin didn’t call at all on
Waqar, a bowler with close to 300 Test wickets. Adams’ strategy
indirectly led to Ridley Jacobs’ narrow run-out by Yousaf Youhana’s
quick throw to Moin on Adams’ sweep to short fine-leg. Nor could it
protect Franklyn Rose, Ambrose and King forever. But it was vindicated
by the result.Rose, whose one and only ball from Akram brought a huge lbw appeal,
pulled Mushtaq for four, but his attempted six hit an over later was
against the breeze to the longest part of the boundary and carried
only as far as Akram at long-on.Ambrose’s blow over midwicket off Mushtaq found its target,
Independence Avenue outside the ground, but when he was lbw to Saqlain
the last ball before lunch and Akram collected his 11th wicket of the
match by hitting King’s unprotected off-stump, the balance of a
constantly fluctuating match had swung in Pakistan’s favour.Final twistThere was another final twist to come but it would not have reached
that stage but for Pakistani slackness in the field and by an umpiring
decision that the ubiqitous television cameras showed to be a mistake.Both reflected the general stress that seemed to affect everyone
except Adams and Walsh. With 16 still needed, Walsh lunged forward to
his second ball from off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, bat locked close to
pad.Imran Nazir at forward short-leg caught the rebound and he, wicketkeeper and captain Moin Khan and the close fielders bellowed an appeal
that could have been heard in Montserrat.Even after umpire Doug Cowie, a New Zealander and the ICC appointee
standing for the first time in the Caribbean, ruled not out, the
Pakistanis were demanding the decision. The television replays showed
they had a point for the bat’s inside edge, as well as the pad, were
involved.Earlier, with 20 required, the Pakistanis were also certain Adams had
snicked Akram to Moin but umpire Billy Doctrove, in his debut Test,
disagreed. The replays, this time, were not as conclusive as they
later were.SquanderedTwice, almost identical, straightforward run-out chances were
squandered. The first made little difference, the second would have
given Pakistan victory by 13.Ambrose, in his last Test on his home ground, had just sent Mushtaq’s
leg-break out of the ground when he and Adams found themselves
together at the wicket-keeper’s end and the ball in Imran Nazir’s
grasp at short fine-leg.The return came to Moin who relayed it back to the bowler’s end only
for Saqlain Mushtaq to fumble and lose the ball with Ambrose well
short of his ground.Ambrose was out two runs later, lbw to the last ball before lunch from
Saqlain, with the West Indies still 22 short of victory and only Reon
King and Walsh to come. The lapse seemed immaterial.Pakistan’s next opportunity was decisive.This time, Adams and Walsh were in the same crease after a
disagreement over a deflection from Walsh’s pad to short fine-leg.
Adams ran, Walsh only did so with Younis Khan’s throw on its way, yet
again, to the unfortunate Saqlain. Again he missed it. It was the
match.The setbacks seemed to rattle the Pakistanis whose effort gradually
faded. In the end, even Walsh was batting with the panache that he
never doubted victory.
