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India plunge Windies into crisis

Cricket World Cup mascot ``Mello'' leads volunteers on a lap of the stadium during the lunch break of the warm-up match between India and the West Indies in Trelawny, Jamaica, on Friday. India beat the West Indies by nine wickets. PHOTO: AFP

India plunged the West Indies into a cricket crisis on the eve of the first World Cup in the Caribbean, forcing skipper Brian Lara to appeal for calm.

While the West Indies were woeful, India was impressive in a nine-wicket warm-up match win that counts for nothing officially but means a lot in terms of confidence.

"It's better that such performances happen before the tournament than during it," Lara said. "Everyone starts from scratch on Tuesday.

"This collapse was devastating, but I'm hopeful of getting out of this low point. West Indies fans will come out in large numbers to support us, we have to live up to their expectations," he said.

The 37-year-old left-hander, who top-scored with 22 in the paltry total of 85, will begin his fifth and last World Cup campaign against 1992 champion Pakistan on Tuesday at Sabina Park.

Pakistan beat top-ranked South Africa in a match the Proteas wanted abandoned after losing early wickets on a pitch they claimed was dangerous.

Meanwhile, former No. 1 Australia ended its run of three losses to England with a five-wicket win at St. Vincent.

Shaun Tait took 4-33 to restrict England to 197, then Adam Gilchrist (72) and Shane Watson (55) set Australia on course for a comfortable victory with a 140-run opening stand.

The Australians, aiming for a third consecutive World Cup title, came to the Caribbean on a five-match losing stretch.

Three of those were in New Zealand, which gave the Black Caps the appearance of title contenders until an upset two-wicket loss to Bangladesh earlier this week.

New Zealand righted that slightly on Friday with an 18-run win over a Sri Lanka lineup missing pace spearhead Chaminda Vaas and veteran allrounder Sanath Jayasuriya, who were both rested.

Captain Stephen Fleming, who scored 65 in a 131-run opening stand with Lou Vincent (70), said the win put New Zealand back on course for the World Cup.

Although Peter Fulton, who scored an impressive 59 including two sixes and a reverse sweep for four off consecutive balls from Muttiah Muralitharan, broke the little finger on his left hand taking a catch to mellow New Zealand's win.

Trinidad's dramas continued, with South Africa captain Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur urging umpires to scrap the match against Pakistan because they considered the Sir Frank Worrell ground pitch dangerously uneven.

"The last thing we wanted to do was lose a player like Jacques Kallis to a ball rearing and sticking up and injuring him because he's obviously crucial to our World Cup campaign," Arthur said.

The pitch was deemed safe by the umpires and play resumed with South Africa eventually all out for 199 in 48.3 overs.

Pakistan replied with 200 for three.

"There was concern, five balls really took off," Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer said. "It wasn't a perfect batting wicket, but it wasn't that bad and there were over 3,500 people in the ground who'd paid to come in and I thought we had a duty to continue."

The International Cricket Council wasn't worried about the venue.

"199 all out doesn't suggest to me that it's a terror track on which it's impossible to bat," ICC spokesman Brian Murgatroyd said.

It will have little bearing on the World Cup, because Group B matches in Trinidad will be played at Queen's Park Oval.

Local organizers were vowing to improve the viewing and playing pleasure at Queen's Park, after a series of debacles in the warm-up matches including a sightscreen collapsing and the evacuation of the team hotel when a tear gas canister went off.

Trinidad's committee chief Anand Daniel conceded there were "some areas we need to firm up."

Jamaican organizers admitted that despite early promises to be finished last month, only 70 percent of the seating has been installed at Sabina Park in Kingston, venue for the opening match.

Robert Bryan of Jamaica's organizing committee vowed the revamped venue would be ready on time.

"I am urging everybody to be calm, it is my judgment that the local organizing committee has its arrangements under control," he said.

If the West Indies' form against India was indicative of what to expect at the World Cup, there'll be scant need to bother finishing off.

Munaf Patel took 4-10 and left-armer Irfan Pathan returned 3-25, then Robin Uthappa (35 not out) and Dinesh Karthik (38 not out) led India to victory in 18.3 overs. India's only hiccup was the loss of out-of-form opener Virender Sehwag (6).

India captain Rahul Dravid said the win bodes well for his lineup.

"We've got a lot of confidence from this clinical and professional performance." he said. "Coming here and beating the West Indies convincingly gives us a big boost, we need to build on this."

England got off to a positive start against Australia with captain Michael Vaughan (62) and Ian Bell (56) putting on 116 for the second wicket before both were dismissed by Brad Hogg, sparking a slide of five wickets for 46 runs.

Gilchrist, back from four matches out for paternity leave, and Watson bludgeoned the England bowling attack for 24 overs.

"I thought Gilchrist and Watson today were outstanding -- they set up the game for us -- and we can take a lot from this game," skipper Ricky Ponting said.
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