Keith authors a West Indian success

West Indies should have actually been disappointed with that total as, at one stage, they looked like running away with the match. A total of anything upto 320-40 looked on cards before Wasim Akram and Salim Malik bowled the last 10 overs intelligently.

Man-of-the-match Keith Arthurton was the unexpected hero with his left-arm spinners as he picked up four important wickets — Ijaz Ahmed, Salim Malik, Azhar Mahmood and Wasim Akram — for very little.

On the contrary, Pakistan players’ body language suggestssomething is wrong somewhere. Maybe it has something to do with the match-fixing charges, or it could be the captaincy issue. Whatever the reason, their cricket is suffering and it reflected in the team’s unprofessional approach today.

A chase of 290 on this wicket was difficult, though not impossible. Indeed, the Pakistanis were missing Saaed Anwar and Inzamam, their best bets under these tight games. Only Ijaz Ahmed (51) and Salim Elahi (46) showed the skill to stay while others caved in meekly.

Earlier, they allowed West Indies to get to a rollicking start as a clueless skipper Aamir Sohail was struggling with his meagre resources. Stuart Williams impressed but only for a brief while. The other opener Phillo Wallace, however was a revelation. His knock of 79 in only 58 balls had 13 power-packed boundaries.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul gave ample support to Wallace before being done in with a beauty by Arshad.

SCOREBOARD

West Indies: Phillo Wallace run out (Ijaz-Moin) 79 (58b, 13×4), StuartWilliams lbw A Mehmood 14 (22b, 3×4), Shivnarine Chanderpaul st Moin b Arshad 49 (71b, 5×4), Brian Lara c Saqlain b Arshad 16 (14b, 3×4), Carl Hooper c&b Malik 13 (31b), Keith Arthurton c Moin b Akram 33 (44b, 2×4), Phil Simmons b Akram 21 (31b, 1×4), Ridley Jacob lbw Akram 0 (1b), Rawl Lewis not out 20 (24b, 1×4), Nixon McLean c Ijaz b Malik 7 (4b, 1×4), Merven Dillon not out 5 (6b, 1×4); Extras (lb11, w15, nb6) 32.

Total (for nine in 50 overs) 289.

Fall Of Wickets: 1-34 (Williams), 2-143 (Wallace), 3-166 (Lara), 4-189 (Chanderpaul), 5-204 (Hooper), 6-250 (Arthurton), 7-250 (Jacob), 8-268, 9-277 (McLean).

Bowling: Wasim Akram 10-0-55-3, Azhar Mehmood 5-0-39-1, Saqlain Mushtaq 7-0-44-0, Arshad Khan 10-1-43-2, Shahid Afridi 9-0-48-0, Salim Malik 9-0-49-2.

Pakistan: Salim Elahi run out 46 (79b, 4×4, 1×6), Shahid Afridi lbw Dillon 4 (4b), Azhar Mehmood b Arthurton 20 (20b, 2×4), Aamir Sohail b Hooper 12 (15b, 4×1), Ijaz Ahmed b Arthurton 51 (64b, 3×4), Akhtar Sarfraz c Dillonb Lewis 14 (26b), Salim Malik lbw Arthurton 15 (15b, 1×4), Wasim Akram c Jacob b Arthurton 10 (9b, 1×6), Moin Khan c Lewis b Dillon 25 (22b, 2×4, 1×6), Saqlain Mushtaq not out 24 (33b, 2×4), Arshad Khan not out 14 (17b, 1×4); Extras: (lb11, b2, w8, nb4) 25.

Total (for nine wickets in 50 overs) 259

Fall Of Wickets: 1-27 (Afridi), 2-70 (Mehmood), 3-90 (Sohail), 4-100 (Elahi), 5-143 (Sarfraz), 6-177 (Ijaz), 7-180 (Malik), 80194 (Akram), 9-212 (Moin).

Bowling: McLean 10-059-0, Dillon 10-0-46-2, Arthurton 10-0-31-4, Hooper 10-1-47-1, Lewis 4-0-20-0, Simmons 5-035-0, Chanderpaul 1-0-9-0.

Result: West Indies win by 30 runs.

Man Of The Match: Keith Arthurton.

Semi-final line-up: Sri Lanka vs South Africa (Oct 30), India vs West Indies (Oct 31).