Row has final say in dramatic finish

The delay allowed the Australians to leave the ground in safety.

Keith Arthurton was unable to run out Waugh 72 not out or Shane Warne 19 not out as they attempted to level the match because all six stumps had been uprooted as 1,000 fans swarmed onto the field.

In a match reduced to 30 overs because of overnight and morning rain, the West Indies made 173-5 and then restricted Australia to 172-8 before Subba Row adjusted the score to 173-7, ruling Warne had not been run out.

At first West Indies seemed to have won by one run after Waugh failed to hit a winning four offthe final delivery, but Subba Row decided the Australians were prevented from making a third run to tie the game by the crowd.

Australia needed six runs off Keith Arthurton8217;s last over, which was preceded by a smaller pitch invasion when play was halted for five minutes because replacement stumps had to be found for one end.

Waugh hit a ball towards the boundary and had completed two runs with Warne before Arthurton removed the bails as spectators invaded the pitch.

Waugh then started running a third towards Arthurton8217;s end, by which time all the stumps had been taken by spectators. To effect a run out Arthurton had needed to uproot one of the stumps with the ball in his hand.

Afterwards Steve Waugh said he feared a Monica Seles-style stabbing on the cricket field.

Waugh was pushed and shoved before police came to his rescue and escorted him through the threatening crowd at the Bourda Ground.

8220;That was just crazy, an embarrassment for cricket, something has got to be done,8221; Waugh said later inthe team hotel.

8220;You are risking your life, it only takes one guy with plenty to drink to take out a knife a la Monica Seles and it8217;s over for you. That could easily happen, it8217;s not over-dramatising it.8221;

8220;I had a whiplash to my neck and I8217;m happy to get away with it that lightly, it8217;s just ridiculous to have 2,000 people running in and taking the stumps while the ball is still in play.8221;

Seles, the former world number one women8217;s tennis player, was stabbed in the back by a spectator at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany, in 1993.

8220;Guys were being threatened outside the ground and I was threatened a hundred times on the way to the score box tonight 8212; people saying if you get a tie we are going to be after you8217;,8221; Waugh told Australian commercial television.

8220;It doesn8217;t get any scarier than that on the sporting field,8221; he added.

Subba Row said: 8220;It8217;s in the best interests of cricket. The batsmen were obviously attempting a third run but with the spectators on the ground it becameimpossible.8221;

In 1993, on the same Bourda ground, Subba Row ruled a one-day international between the West Indies and Pakistan a tie when the crowd invaded the ground as the West Indies batsmen completed the two runs needed to win.

West Indies paceman Mervyn Dillon had struck two early blows, removing Mark Waugh for five and Ricky Ponting for a duck. Carl Hooper accounted for Darren Lehmann with the score on 13.

But Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh steadied the ship before Gilchrist was run out by Henderson Bryan for 44.

Phil Simmons put the tie further in the West Indies favour when he bowled Michael Bevan and Shane Lee before Dillon claimed a third scalp, that of Tom Moody for two.

But Steve Waugh and Warne came to the rescue with a stand of 54 which, after Subba Row reconsidered, was unbroken.

West Indies, put in by Australia, had earlier made 173-5 with openers Ridley Jacobs and Sherwin Campbell giving the home team a flying start with a first wicket stand of 83 before Shane Lee removedboth.

Warne chipped in with the wickets of stand-in skipper Adams and Carl Hooper, smartly stumped by Gilchrist, before Lee took another wicket, that of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who made a quick 27. Stuart Williams and Simmons lifted the score to 173.

The seven-match series is still all square at 2-2 after five matches.

Scoreboard

West Indies: Ridley Jacobs c S Waugh b Lee 33, Sherwin Campbell camp;b Lee 41, Jimmy Adams b Warne 7, Carl Hooper st Gilchrist b Warne 8, Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Moody b Lee 27, Stuart Williams not out 30, Phil Simmons not out 15; Extras: b1, lb4, w4, nb3 12. Total: for five wickets, 30 overs 173

Fall of wickets: 1-83, 2-84, 3-100, 4-101, 5-153

Did not bat: Keith Arthurton, Hendy Bryan, Mervyn Dillon, Courtney Walsh

Bowling: Fleming 6-0-30-0, Reiffel 2-0-14-0, Moody 5-0-27-0, Lee 6-0-39-3, Warne 6-0-35-2, Waugh 5-0-23-0

Australia: Mark Waugh c Adams b Dillon 5, Adam Gilchrist run out 44, Ricky Ponting b Dillon 0, DarrenLehmann b Hooper 13, Steve Waugh not out 72, Michael Bevan b Simmons 10, Shane Lee b Simmons 0, Tom Moody c Bryan b Dillon 2, Shane Warne not out 19; Extras: lb3, w2, nb3 8. Total: for seven wickets, 30 overs 173

Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-26, 3-50, 4-70, 5-116, 6-116, 7-119

Did not bat: Paul Reiffel, Damien Fleming

Bowling: Walsh 6-0-32-0, Dillon 6-1-25-3, Bryan 6-0-27-0, Hooper 6-0-48-1, Simmons 4-0-25-2, Arthurton 2-0-12-0