Print

Mail

wiki links

Sarwan's 91 leads Windies to victory

Mohammad Rafique, grounded, of Bangladesh dives to stop the ball against the West Indies during their ICC World Cup Super Eights cricket match at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

Ramnaresh Sarwan made the perfect case to be the next West Indies captain on Thursday when he smashed a majestic 91 to lead his team to a convincing World Cup win over Bangladesh.

Sarwan, widely-tipped to become Brian Lara's successor, was named man of the match for his innings which came when his side were struggling at 55-3 in the Super Eights match at the Kensington Oval.

His unbeaten knock, which featured six fours and two sixes, helped West Indies make 230-5 before Bangladesh were bowled out for 131 to give the hosts their first victory in the second round stage.

"It was a difficult pitch to bat on at first but it got more comfortable. The main thing was to play well for my team and the most important thing was to win the match," said vice-captain Sarwan, who knows that a good run of form will help his leadership bid. "I just want to continue to keep playing the way I have been playing."

Lara wants to win that game to boost his side's chances of finishing fifth in the table.

Psychological edge

A win will also give the West Indies an important psychological boost ahead of their tour to England which gets underway next month.

"With that tour coming up, a win would give us a huge advantage," said Lara who was also fulsome in his praise of Sarwan. "His innings was magnificent and he was very positive. We have a lot of pride to play for. The guys showed a lot of character and they dug in to get us a good total."

Bangladesh managed to avoid finishing bottom of the Super Eights table; that dubious distinction belongs to Cup debutants Ireland.

Skipper Habibul Bashar was left to ponder a campaign which had seen famous wins over India and South Africa but an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Irish.

"Our bowlers did a pretty good job and bowled in the right places," said the captain. "But once again we didn't bat very well. I thought 230 was a total we could chase."

"We have struggled on the pitch here but hopefully we can learn from it. We have had some good days at the World Cup and some bad ones. We just need to be more consistent," he added.
This story has been viewed 827 times.