West Indies Story

[Robertinho]

I have seen stories popping up here and there, and since I wrote a few stories when I used to play CM 01/02 (a soccer game), I figured I might try my hand at ICC stories...





The West Indies Cricket Board had just made a shock announcement. They had appointed a 15 year old Australian by the name of Robertinho Dela Cruz as manager of their national team. He had a few doubters in the West Indian cricketing community, but most were sure of his ability.

Gearing up for the tour of India, the coach had select the following lineup:

Batsmen:
S. Campbell
R. Sarwan
B. Lara
S. Chanderpaul
C. Gayle
K. Arthurton
R. Richardson
Wicket keepers:
J. Adams
R. Jacobs
All Rounders:
C. Hooper
C. Tucket
R. Hinds
Bowlers:
N. McGarrell
F. Rose
D. Ramnarine
M. Dillon
C. Collymore
R. King



The opening match of their tour was a four day friendly against Karnataka. Dela Cruz predicted an easy win, but a good warmup to test his players.

 

[Robertinho]

For our first match against Karnataka, Dela Cruz selected the following lineup:

S. Campbell
R. Sarwan
*B. Lara
S. Chanderpaul
C. Hooper
+J. Adams
C. Gayle
N. McGarrel
D. Ramnarine
M. Dillon
R. King

We predicted an easy win, with a strong batting lineup supported by a tricky bowling attack.

 

[Robertinho]

Match Report - Karnataka vs. West Indies - 4 Day Friendly

We lost the toss and were sent in to bowl on a fine batting wicket, with Dillon and King to open the bowling.

The locals got off to a good start, the opening stand lasting 70 runs which eventually propelled them to 2/224, where it all fell apart, thanks to some aggressive bowling from Dillon. Karnataka were all out for 336, with Dillon getting figures of 4/68.

We went into our first innings looking to establish a huge lead to sit back on. Unfortunately, our batting failed where it should have succeeded. Campbell out for 4, Lara a golden duck and Chanderpaul dismissed for 21. Thanks to some heroics by Sarwan (61) and Adams (122) we managed to scrape from 5/161 to all out for 336. Scores were tied.

A vicious opening spell by Dillon which saw Karnataka stumble to 5/64 paved the way for Ramnarine and McGarrell to finish off the middle order and tail, taking 5 wickets beteen them. Karnataka were all out for 152, setting us a total of 153 to win. Dillon was the highlight again with 4/44.

A disappointing 2nd innings rounded off a disgraceful West Indian performance. We won by 6 wickets, but 4/153 isn't quite a success. Everyone got off to a start, but only Lara went on to a score (49). Pleased with Adams especially, though disappointed with the rest the batsmen. A good performance by the bowling attack saved us.

Overview:

Karnataka 1st Innings: 336a.o. (Arunkumar 86, Dillon 4/68)
West Indies 1st Innings: 336a.o. (Adams 122, Srinath 4/74)
Scores Tied after First Innings
Karnataka 2nd Innings: 152a.o. (Dillon 4/44, Ramnarine 3/38)
West Indies 2nd Innings (153 to win): 4/153 (Lara 49, Vadeyaraj 3/38)

Result: West Indies win by 6 wickets.
Man of the match: M. Dillon

 

[Robertinho]

Brief review of my Friendly vs. Mumbai:

A team that fields Muzumdar, Tendulkar and Agarkar is sure to be a challenge. Their first innings was brilliant, With Kambli (200) leading the way to a first innings total of 485.

My first innings was less spectacular. A 99 run opening partnership had a hint of a great innings, however after that wicket of Richardson (45) fell, Sarwan (48), Chanderpaul (6) and Hooper (0) chopped us down to 4/115. Some great batting by Lara (187*) led us to 383, with some good defensive batting from the tail.

By this time it was nearing the end of Day 3, and Mumbai went in and hit a "quick" 6/180 dec. from 55 overs setting us 283 for victory. Of course, with 2 sessions left, we had no intention of going for the win, so we finished the day on 2/80 (Richardson 37, Lara 32*) and drew the match.

Our next match was a test against India. I had decided to switch to the following lineup, replacing Campbell with Richardson:

S. Campbell
R. Sarwan
*B. Lara
S. Chanderpaul
C. Hooper
+J. Adams
C. Gayle
N. McGarrel
D. Ramnarine
M. Dillon
R. King

We knew we had to play impeccably to have a chance of winning, and huge responsiblity was on the more senior batsmen, Lara, Chanderpaul and co. It seemed to be a spinners wicket, so I kept Ramnarine and McGarrell in the team. Lastly, I do not personally believe we can win unless there is a shining individual performance by a bowler. Tendulkar, Laxman, etc., all needed to be contained. Hoping for a draw.

 

[Robertinho]

Match Report - India vs. West Indies - Test Match

For the third consecutive time we loss the toss and were bowling first.

To my horror, I discovered that the Indian lineup featured my nemesis, V. Kambli, the double ton scorer. India, nonetheless, got off to a shocking start, stumbling immediately to 4/73, with Muzumdar (14), Ganguly (12), Dravid (4) and Laxman (15) all going out quickly. As if a bad dream, Tendulkar and Kambli, the Mumbai-ians, came in and mounted a 149 run partnership, setting up an excellent tail performance which led the Indians to 426, Kumble scoring 50*, and Kambli with 125. Ramnarine took 6/89.

An embarassing first innings total of 157 forced us into following, Lara (53) the only stand out. The Indian spinners had a field day, Kumble with 3/59 and Harbajan with 3/49.

269 runs behind and following on, it would take 400-500 runs to even have a chance, presuming we bowl well. Once again, a complete and utter dismantling by the Indian bowling attack brought us down to 285 all out. 103 of those runs were thanks largely to Gayle, who stayed with the tail for all those runs and finished on 100*. Lara was next best with 38. We now lead by 16 runs. At least it won't be an innings loss.

No surprise, as we ended up losing by 10 wickets (India 0/17). Nothing interesting in this innings, simply a formality as India were assured a win.

Overview:

India 1st Innings: 426a.o. (Kambli 125, Tendular 93, Ramnarine 6/89)
West Indies 1st Innings: 157a.o. (Lara 53, Harbajan 3/49)
India lead by 269 runs after First Innings.
West Indies 2nd Innings: 285a.o. (Gayle 100*, Kumble 4/104)
India 2nd Innings (17 to win): 0/17 (Muzumdar 12*, Ganguly 2*)

Result: India win by 10 wickets.
Man of the match: A. Kumble

 

[Robertinho]

Deciding that the team had absolutely no need for an all rounder in Carl Hooper, the decision was made to switch him with K. Arthurton, a specialist batsman with a FC average of 45. The batting order was also mixed up to prevent a post-opening partnership collapse. The following lineup was selected for the 2nd test against India:

R. Richardson
R. Sarwan
*B. Lara
C. Gayle
+J. Adams
S. Chanderpaul
K. Arthurton
N. McGarrel
D. Ramnarine
M. Dillon
R. King

Having learnt that the way to play the Indian spinners was to play very defensive, it was pre-planned for all the batsmen to bat extremely defensively until they felt extremely settled.

 

[Robertinho]

Match Report - India vs. West Indies - Test Match

Dela Cruz broke the drought of losing the toss and won on a wicket suited to bowling, where he chose to field first. A quick wicket took India to 1/1 in the first over, until Ganguly and Tendulkar carried the team to 2/126, followed by a 144 run partnership between Tendulkar and Dravid which took the total to 3/270. Looking in dire straights, the West Indies bowling attack ripped through the middle and lower order, having the Indians back in the pavillion, all out for 346, the two spinners, McGarrell (4/105) and Ramnarine (4/107) the stars.

Feeling more confident after a pleasing bowling performance, the West Indies went out to the middle with high hopes. Unfortunately, another blistering performance from Harbajan (6/55) and Kumble (4/51) kept the West Indies to a modest 204, Chanderpaul the highest scorer on 62*, Sarwan next best on 49. The West Indies were now 142 runs behind, and needed another inspiring bowling performance from the spinners.

A steady start to the innings by the Indians (2/69) gave the impression of a huge total for the West Indies run chase. Fortunately for Dela Cruz, Ramnarine (5/64) and McGarrel (2/57) repeated their destructive performance in the first innings, bowling India out for 216, setting a total of 359 for victory. Not an easy chase, but a realistic target in 6 sessions.

An immediate wicket from Nehra which put the visitors to 1/0 gave a good impression of what was to come - West Indies all out for 79 from 65 overs, two great performances from Nehra (5/24) and Kumble (4/23) compounding the West Indies woes.


Overview:

India 1st Innings: 346a.o. (Tendulkar 137, McGarrell 4/105)
West Indies 1st Innings: 204a.o. (Chanderpaul 62*, Harbajan 6/55)
India lead by 142 runs after First Innings.
India 2nd Innings: 216a.o. (Dravid 56, Ramnarine 5/64)
West Indies 2nd Innings (359 to win): 79a.o. (Nehra 5/24, Kumble 4/23)

Result: India win by 279 runs.
Man of the match: S. Tendulkar

Conclusion: "Definitely upset about the 2nd innings. We play very well and gave India a run for their money until that horrid pitch fell apart when we began batting our second innings. Reminds me of the 4th Test between India and Australia back in 2004..." is all Dela Cruz had to say.

 

[_Ed_]

Great story so far, good stuff!

 

[Robertinho]

Extremely disappointed with the first two matches, Dela Cruz decided that at 2-0 down in a 3 match series he had absolutely nothing to lose. So, taking a huge gamble, he decided to play with only 3 specialist bowlers and an all-rounder - opening the bowling Dillon (RFM) and... Ramnarine (LS)!

The lineup is as follows:

R. Richardson
R. Sarwan
*B. Lara
C. Gayle
+J. Adams
S. Chanderpaul
K. Arthurton
R. Hinds
N. McGarrel
D. Ramnarine
M. Dillon

Prediction: "Well, we can't win the series, but we can leave this test series with some dignity if we can pull off a win. I am a little unsure whether we can do this, but with only 4 players capable of bowling, 3 of which are spinners, I think this dodgy, Indian-favouring pitch could work to our advantage."

 

[Hoggy31]

Good reading there mate, pity ICC Online is no more because we could've played my team from the other thread vs. your team from this thread

 

[Robertinho]

Match Report - India vs. West Indies - Test Match

Once again, the West Indies lost the toss and were sent to field. With Dillon and Ramnarine opening the bowling, it was unknown what to expect. A brilliant start by Ramnarine (1/15) and Dillon (0/14), with Muzumdar out for 6, meant that the first bowling change was at 20 overs, when McGarrell and Hinds came in. Wasting no time, McGarrell took a wicket in his first over, Ganguly for 22, leaving India at 2/34. After another twenty overs, thanks to McGarrell dismissing Sachin for 34, India were 3/94. Dravid and Laxman took the Indians to 4/244. After being reduced to 6/308, an out-of-character batting display by the Indian tail guided the locals to 499, Srinath scoring 85 and Kumble 69*. Dravid the top scorer with 108. As if to make things worse for this battered West Indies side, Dillon was injured, leaving the team with only 2 specialist bowlers and all rounder, all of whom are spinners.

After disappointing themselves in the bowling department, the West Indians went out to impress. Richardson went out cheaply - bowled by Ganguly, at 1/7. A string of disappointing displays left the West Indies all out for 186, Sarwan top scorer with 44 and Harbajan taking 6/64. Dela Cruz was asked (read: forced) to follow on.

313 runs behind, sensing there was very little to lose, they came out swinging. Richardson once again proved why he shouldn't be in the team, going out first ball. Dela Cruz hung his head in shame... then suddenly, as if someone had lit a bushfire, Lara opened up, and in a one sided partnership with Sarwan shot the visitors to 2/45, Sarwan bowled for 9. From here, some serious slogging by Gayle, 25 (13), Adams, 114 (175) and Arthurton, 93 (128) shot the West Indies to 378 all out form 74.4 overs, setting the Indians a competitive (not) total of 65.

McGarrell and Ramnarine came out, two spinners, ready to bowl. You could see the grin on Ganguly's face as he got ready for the first ball. But something happened. Something that may never happened again. Some brilliant bowling by Ramnarine and McGarrel managed to get the Indians to 1/38 (Ganguly caught off McGarrell). From there, Ramnarine did the rest, Tendulkar (6), Dravid (0), Laxman (5) and Kambli (0) fell victim to the devious spin, reducing India to 5/55. Unfortunately, the Indians struggled to a 5 wicket win. Pathetic, considering they were chasing a mighty total of 65.


Overview:

India 1st Innings: 499a.o. (Dravid 108, Hinds 4/131)
West Indies 1st Innings: 186a.o. (Sarwan 44, Harbajan 6/64)
India lead by 313 runs after First Innings.
West Indies 2nd Innings: 378a.o. (Adams 114, Lara 99, Kumble 3/83)
India 2nd Innings (66 to win): 5/66 (Ganguly 25, Ramnarine 4/37)

Result: India win by 5 wickets.
Man of the match: H. Singh

 

[Robertinho]

Conclusion on last match: "I was definitely disappointed by letting them get to 499 after being both 3/94 and 6/308. And I am very displeased with the First Innings batting effort. However, it was a simply marvellous display in the second innings, brilliant batting by Lara who started the stampede, Adams and Arthurton. And to my sheer amazement, our two spinners, McGarrell and Ramnarine, excellent opening bowling, getting a team 5/66 with nothing but spin and a new ball is an awesome effort. A 5 wicket loss may sound unimpressive, until you mention that the target was 66."

The Test Series finishes as follows:
Test Series in India - India vs. West Indies
1st Test India won by 10 wickets.
2nd Test India won by 279 runs.
3rd Test India won by 5 wickets.
India Wins the 3 Test Series 3-0

Ready to begin the One Day International series, A few changes have been made. Namely; Richardson is out for Hooper (needing the extra bowl), Dillon is out for Rose and Hinds is out for Collymore, because we do need 2 seamers opening the bowling:

K. Arthurton
R. Sarwan
*B. Lara
C. Gayle
+J. Adams
S. Chanderpaul
C. Hooper
C. Collymore
N. McGarrel
D. Ramnarine
F. Rose

Prediction: "Our slogging in the test match was admirable, and I truly believe we can expect to give India a run for their money."

 

[Cloete]

Good reading there mate, pity ICC Online is no more because we could've played my team from the other thread vs. your team from this thread

You can't play international teams online anyway.

Great story here mate.

But what's even better is your name... that's class. Robertinho De La Cruz... rolls off the tongue and it sounds so exotic lol

 

[Robertinho]

Match Report - India vs. West Indies - One Day International

Robertinho Dela Cruz stated before the match that he expected to give India a run for their money. Not wanting to disappointed, the West Indies charged out of the gates, losing wickets at 1/9, 2/37, 3/54 and 4/92 after 10 overs before Adams and Chanderpaul settled down and began a moderate partnership between the middle overs, lasting 114 runs, guiding the team to 5/206. Some quick runs from the tail and Adams took the score to a competitive 249, Adams being the last wicket for a vital 90.

The Indians had a great deal of their reputation at stake, so they came out, dancing down the pitch, playing some dazzling shots. Abbas ali was first to fall for 66 (77) at 1/121. Ganguly hit his way to a technically outstanding 109*, the Indians winning by 9 wickets with 2-3 overs to spare.

Overview:

West Indies: 249a.o. from 48.3 overs (Adams 90, Dutta 5/55)
India: 1/250 from 47.2 overs (Ganguly 109*, Collymore 1/53)

Result: India win by 9 wickets.
Man of the match: S. Ganguly

 

[Robertinho]

Thanks for the comments. Yes yes, Robertinho Dela Cruz, I've had it in my head for a while, was my name for a soccer fantasy league a while back...

 

[Robertinho]

Conclusion on last match: "The batting wasn't bad, I believe it's the third highest score of ours on this entire tour against India. And it is a ODI. Well, bowling wasn't particularly great, but we are putting up a fight."

Although Dela Cruz was quite happy, Rose was taken out and an all rounder was added in Tuckett, a handy batter and a bowling average of 20.50:

K. Arthurton
R. Sarwan
*B. Lara
C. Gayle
+J. Adams
S. Chanderpaul
C. Hooper
C. Tuckett
C. Collymore
N. McGarrel
D. Ramnarine

Prediction: "I think we are finally getting back on track - Adams is performing, I think the bowling could be a bit tighter though. I have opted for an even more batting oriented lineup - because we know, when the batsmen perform, so do the bowlers, not the other way around."

 

[Hoggy31]

Wow man ur on a roll posting a game every ten minutes, keep it up. its good reading.

 

[Robertinho]

Match Report - India vs. West Indies - One Day International

From the first ball, the Indians were in cruise mode. The first wicket felt at 1/89 (Abbas ali for 46, caught off Ramnarine). The runrate in the 40th over was around about 4.5, but then Kambli and Dharmani exploded, propelling the home team to 4/281.

Looking good at first, the West Indians hit themselves to 25 off 3 overs, until Arthurton was dismissed for 12 at 1/26. From there wickets fell in small intervals - 2/43, 3/43, 4/63, 5/77, 6/111, 7/180, 8/193, 9/209 and all out for 213 from 41.4 overs. Carl Hooper and Tuckett seemed the only batsmen who had the Indians measure - Hooper hit an embarassment saving 72 (82) and Tuckett hit a quick 33 (26) with the tail. In the end, the Indians triumphed by 68 runs.

Overview:

India: 4/281 from 50 overs (Ganguly 83, Ramnarine 2/40)
West Indies: 213a.o. from 41.4 overs (Hooper 72, Kumble 4/32)

Result: India win by 68 runs.
Man of the match: A. Kumble

 

[Robertinho]

Conclusion on last match: "Well, I felt that the first ODI was a better performance, which is probably quite clear. I was disappointed with the top order mostly, we need some starts there if we're to win - though credit goes to Carl Hooper and Tuckett for the quick runs at the end. Overall, disappointed, but not disheartened."

Advice from a fellow coach, "Neilio" advised Dela Cruz to go with a mainly spin attack. With virtually nothing to lose, the West Indies team was announced with only one seamer, an all rounder:

K. Arthurton
R. Sarwan
*B. Lara
C. Gayle
+J. Adams
S. Chanderpaul
C. Hooper
C. Tuckett
R. Hinds
N. McGarrel
D. Ramnarine

Prediction: "Well, spin works on these Indian pitches, so why not play to suit the surface? It worked in the 3rd test, I don't see why it won't work now."

 

[Robertinho]

Match Report - India vs. West Indies - One Day International

Feeling confident in the West Indian batting, Dela Cruz sent the Indians out to field first. Another quick opening partnership took the West Indies to 1/37 after 5 overs, Sarwan being cleaned bowled by Nehra. From there, the batting was a little disappointing. Lara (9), Adams (0), Hooper (9) and Tuckett (10) were the main offenders. Fortunately, Gayle managed to hit a steady 35 along with Chanderpaul's impressive 68*. A good effort by the tail saw the West Indies post a total of 8/204 after their allotted 50 overs.

The all spin attack was being put to the test in this innings. The first spell of Ramnarine and McGarrell was impressive, 0/26 from 10 overs. India needed 179 runs at 4.5rpo. The inexperience of the all-rounders could be seen after the successfull spells of Ramnarine and McGarrell - Hinds (10-0-49-1), Cooper (10-0-49-0) and Tuckett (6-1-29-0) in particular, with economies of over 4.8. Although McGarrell managed to get Abbas Ali out for 37, it was already 1/89 at that point - and too late again when Hinds managed to get Dravid out for 36 - the score was 2/180 at this point with only 24 runs to go. Ganguly with a powerful 111* By itself, the bowling was quite economical and tight, but given the batting performance prior it was disappointing.

Overview:

West Indies: 8/204 from 50 overs (Chanderpaul 68*, Nehra 3/55)
India: 2/205 from 48.1 overs (Ganguly 111*, McGarrell 1/30)

Result: India win by 8 wickets.
Man of the match: S. Ganguly