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Windies triumph in World Cup opener

West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara, left, smiles as bowler Jerome Taylor, center, gets airborne with teammate Dwayne Bravo, second right, to celebrate taking the wicket of unseen batsman Younis Khan of Pakistan in their World Cup Cricket first-round match at the Sabina Park Cricket Ground in Kingston, Jamaica, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP

West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Smith dominated with bat and ball to ensure the World Cup hosts opened the competition with a 54-run victory over Group D rivals Pakistan on Tuesday.

West Indies made 241 for nine and then bowled Pakistan out for 187. It marked a superb return to form after they were crushed by India by nine wickets having been skittled for 85 in their final warm-up game on Friday.

"It was a very good team effort," West Indies skipper Brian Lara told reporters. "We only used five bowlers and they all bowled very well.

"I was satisfied with the score we made after the start we had and thought the guys played well over the last eight overs. That gave us impetus," he said.

Batting at No. 8, man-of-the-match Smith's cameo of 32 from 15 balls pushed his side to a competitive total and then his medium-pace bowling turned the game in West Indies' direction.

He claimed the vital wickets of Mohammad Yousuf and Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq in a return of three for 36.

"I have been working really hard in the nets ... all I really wanted to do was help the team to win," Smith said. "We just have to keep doing the basics well now."

It was an impressive performance from the Caribbean side with major batting contributions from Marlon Samuels (63), Ramnaresh Sarwan (49) and captain Brian Lara making 37. Later seamer Dwayne Bravo took three for 42.

The win gives West Indies pole position in the group ahead of their games against Zimbabwe and Ireland and two points to take into the Super Eights stage, presuming both teams qualify.

Despite the early loss of opener Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, West Indies took a grip on the game thanks to an impressive demonstration of strokeplay from Samuels who reached his 50 off 56 balls.

He reached his half-century with a thumping straight six off Shoaib Malik.

The hosts, who have shown a tendency towards middle-order slumps, could easily have lost their way following the dismissals of Samuels and Lara -- both victims of part-time off-spinner Mohammed Hafeez.

But Smith, who hit three fours and two sixes in his late show, helped West Indies pile on 58 runs in the last five overs and set a challenging total for Pakistan to chase.

The West Indies pace attack inflicted early damage with Daren Powell claiming openers Imran Nazir and Hafeez and Jerome Taylor dismissed Younis Khan as Pakistan stumbled to 39 for three.

Inzamam blamed his experienced batsmen for Pakistan's demoralising defeat.

He said that his batsmen would need to improve in the remaining matches if Pakistan are to repeat their 1992 World Cup triumph.

"Our middle order is a very experienced batting line-up and we should have taken more responsibility in the opening game of the tournament," Inzamam said.

"We should have got those runs because I think 242 was a gettable score," he said.

Pakistan must now beat Ireland on Saturday, and Zimbabwe next Wednesday to guarantee progress from Group D into the Super Eight stage of the competition.

Despite the defeat, Inzamam is confident his side will bounce back.

"There is something brilliant and magical about playing West Indies in West Indies, but we lost the opening game, and this is not very good.," he admitted.
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