Tony Becca

THE DLF tri-nation one-day cricket series is at the half-way stage and with the dreaded Duckworth/Lewis system playing a part in two of the three matches played so far - West Indies versus India and India versus Australia, it is tight going.

After defeating the West Indies and suffering a no-result against India, Australia are on seven points; after losing to Australia and getting the better of India by the Duckworth/Lewis system, the West Indies are on five points and, after suffering twice through the weather and Duckworth/Lewis, the unfortunate Indians are on two points.

The second round of the preliminaries gets under way tomorrow (1.30 a.m. local time) with the West Indies up against Australia and the Windies must be having nightmares following their unbelievable and embarrassing batting performance in the first match.

No longer surprising

The truth is that a West Indies collapse in which many wickets fall for a few runs, and a very few at that, has become so regular that it is no longer surprising, or unbelievable, or even embarrassing. In fact, it has become so normal that although they were going well on 141 for two off 20 overs chasing 310 for victory after India had hopped to 309 for five off their allotted 50 overs, one wonders how Messrs Duckworth and Lewis, knowing the West Indies history of collapsing, could justifiably award the rain-ruined match against India to them.

Christopher Gayle batted well - no question about that, and Ramnaresh Sarwan and captain Brian Lara were batting well. The West Indies, however, were still 169 runs away from victory and, based on their history, anything could have happened.

Chasing a target of 280 against Australia, the West Indies, who won the toss in a day and night match, sent Australia to bat and sentenced themselves to bat under the flood lights, were going great guns at 136 without loss and at 172 for one off 23.3 overs when they crashed to 201 all out in 34.3 overs.

That meant that with Gayle striking 58 off 46 deliveries before he was first dismissed at 136 for one, and with Shivnarine Chanderpaul smashing 92 off 83 deliveries before he was second dismissed at 172 two, the West Indies, with batsmen like Sarwan, Lara, Dwayne Bravo, Wavell Hinds, Dwayne Smith and Carlton Baugh Jnr. following them to the crease, lost eight wickets for 29 runs in 11 overs.

Embarrassing

The more embarrassing thing about the West Indies performance, however, is that although they were always ahead of the required run rate they lost nine wickets in 11 overs - and that, for a set of professional cricketers, including five specialist batsmen, was really embarrassing.

It works out at almost one wicket per over.

It was really disappointing to see the West Indies losing a match which they looked like winning because they were bowled out with 15.3 overs to go and it was even more disappointing to see how Bravo, Sarwan and Baugh were dismissed.

All three of them got out by playing strokes which suggested that their brains were scrambled.

The question is this: what continues to happen to a West Indies team that on paper looks so strong in batting - a West Indies that includes Gayle and Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Lara, Bravo, Hinds, Smith and Baugh, a West Indies team that one like Runako Morton, a man who has been performing, cannot get into and a West Indies team which, in the opinion of its coach and manager, and sometimes its captain, has shown tremendous improvement?

Is it, based on the way they keep getting out, based on the way that Sarwan, Bravo and Baugh got out against Australia, and as the late Clyde Walcott said seven years ago, that their batsmen believe they are better than they really are?

Is it that when pressure takes them, they collapse mentally and just cannot deal with it?

Whatever it is, something is wrong - so wrong in fact that despite how well Gayle, Sarwan and Lara batted against India a few days ago, all West Indians can do as they prepare to take on Australia tomorrow is pray, keep their fingers crossed and wish them luck.

One never knows which number will play with the West Indies. Sometimes they bat brilliantly, sometimes they bowl brilliantly, and sometimes they field brilliantly.