da fezbet： The West Indian fast bowler, Jermaine Lawson, claimed the first hattrick in the history of the U19 World Cup in his teams win overZimbabwe
da mrbet： Simon Williams12-Jan-2000The West Indian fast bowler, Jermaine Lawson, claimed the first hattrick in the history of the U19 World Cup in his teams win overZimbabwe. Replying to the West Indian total of 234 for 6, Zimbabwewere reduced to 92-9 when bad light stopped play in the 32nd over. Nofurther play was possible and the West Indies were declared winners,57 runs ahead according to the Duckworth Lewis system.West Indies won the toss and elected to bat on an excellent cricketingwicket at the NCC ground in Colombo. Zimbabwe opening bowlers, MlulekiNkala and Travis Friend, contained well early on. Nkala with a smoothand simple action, got good movement of the seam, both into and awayfrom the batsmen.Barbadian, Kirk Wilkinson, batting at number 3, was the pick of thetop order. He kept the total moving along, using his feet well to thespinners and running excellently between the wickets, eventuallyperishing, caught and bowled by Ewing for 31. Deonarine followedcheaply, bringing together the experienced Ryan Hinds and MarlowSamuels, Captain and Vice Captain respectively, with the score on102-4.Samuels was positive from the start, driving his first delivery backpast Nkala for four. Patiently supported by Hinds the pair went on toshare in a fifth wicket partnership of 125 in 19 overs. Of these runsSamuels contributed 82, hitting nine boundaries that included threetowering sixes. It was a commanding innings, a blend of soundtechnique and belligerent strokeplay. The Zimbabwean bowlers did wellto contain the runs at the end of the innings by the end of theirallocated 50 overs, the West Indian total of 234 for 6 looked a verycompetitive score on a large ground.In reply, Zimbabwe lost early wickets. The batsmen were quickly forcedon to the back foot in the face of some hostile bowling from AndrewRichardson and Carlitos Lopez. Lopez soon ripped into the top order,with three wickets in the space of five overs. Jermain Lawson pickedup his first, Nkala for just 1, leaving Zimbabwe reeling on 25-4 inthe eleventh over. All four were caught by wicket-keeper GregFrancois.Greg Lamb and Trevor Friend then had to try and consolidate and weregoing well when Lamb was run out for 17 by a direct hit. Another runout followed, purely on the result of the pressure being applied by abuoyant West Indian fielding side.Lawson’s hat trick was yet to come. It did so in deteriorating lightand somewhat controversial circumstances.The umpires made first use of the light meters in the 28th over. Playwas allowed to continue with spinners, Hinds and Samuels bowling intandem. The West Indians appeared to have done their Duckworth Lewiscalculations. One more wicket at this stage would see them win onDukworth Lewis calculations.Quick bowler, Jermaine Lawson was recalled for his second spell, inthe 31st over. The light did not appear to have improved at all, butwas, according to the umpires, sufficient from the scoreboxend. Lawson struck immediately, breaking through Travis’sdefence. Gavin Ewing drove his first ball to point, Hamilton Masakadzacompleting the trio, flirting with a ball outside his off stump andbeing caught by keeper Francois.Moments later the light was offered to the batsmen, the playersleaving the field with Zimababwe on 92-9. At the six o’clock offpoint, West Indies were confirmed the winners by 57 runs.Reacting to the situation, Zimbabwe’s test playing coach of the U19side, Paul Strang, said that he was disappointed that the umpires hadallowed Lawson back to bowl in the circumstances. “Its not like itchanged the nature of the game. However if one of the players had gotinjured it would have been a problem. I was most concerned with thesafety of he players.”The West Indies were within their rights to recall Lawson. Coach GusLogie, speaking to CRICINFO, said “everyone knows the rules and itmust be left to the umpires to decide. Having picked three fastbowlers it would have been a waste not to use them in order to win thegame.”Controversy aside, this was a enthralling game of cricket. Nothingshould be taken away from an impressive batting and bowling by theWest Indians.Zimbabwian coach, Strang, was philosophical about the defeat andconfident his team would bounce back. “We made too many mistakes inall parts of our game. You cannot do that at this level. Our batsmenneed to work on a more positive approach and not be content withscoring 2 or 3 runs an over. They also need to build partnerships, 20or 30 at a time. I will be asking the boys to tell how they thoughtthe West Indies played in their innings. We can learn from that.Zimbabwe can still qualify for the super league. They must win boththeir remaining group matches against England and the Americas.The West Indies have received a morale boosting start to the campaignto the tournament. They may however regret their decision to bringback the quicks as run rates from Duckworth Lewis affected matchescannot be counted in calculations of net run rate. They are alsounlikely to find a wicket more suited to the Caribbean style than thatat the NCC. If the batsmen can apply themselves and play well againstquality spin bowling on the Sri Lankan pitches, West Indies will be astrong force.
