Pedro Collins, a No
Haydn Gill07-Oct-2001Pedro Collins, a No. 10 tail-ender with no credentials as abatsman, walked onto to a noisy Bourda ground yesterdayevening and proceeded to belt the ball around in marching toa maiden regional half-century.By the time Collins came out with the depressing scoreboardreading 141 for eight in the 34th over, Barbados had nochance whatsoever of attaining a target of 254 from 48overs.What he did was secondary in determining the outcome of aRed Stripe Bowl match that Guyana had long wrapped up.Thanks to his lusty hitting in an unbeaten 55 off 48 balls,Barbados however managed to reach 221 and reduce the marginof defeat to 32 runs.The pertinent question that has to be asked is: if Collins,whose previous best at this level was seven, was able to batso authoritatively, why weren’t those who were pickedspecifically to make runs could not deliver?None of the top six made it past 30 and it is time the socalled shareholders be told in no uncertain terms thatscores like 16, 28, 25, 13, 16 and 28 are not enough to beatquality teams.The batsmen did not handle the responsibility as well asthey should have, team coach Hendy Springer conceded.Pedro did really well. It is heartening for a what I call amiddle lower-order batsman to come in and strike a 50 likethat. It sets a good example for those guys who have gonebefore him.The defeat now leaves Barbados in a position where they mustbeat Southern Windwards today and hope that Guyana take careof Antigua and Barbuda. Other results might bringcalculators into the equation.There was a semblance of a start from most of Barbados’batsmen yesterday, but no one carried on.Philo Wallace flicked Reon King for a four and then pulledhim for powerful six into the Clive Lloyd Stand. In the nextover from Colin Stuart, Wallace showed his obvious dislikewhen Basil Morgan ruled that he had snicked a catch tokeeper.Sherwin Campbell and Dale Richards also looked accomplished,but departed when set. Campbell was bowled as he playedslightly across the line and there was a similarindiscretion for Richards who gave a return catch to one ofthe few balls leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo flighted.Adrian Griffith was run out after hesitation between he andFloyd Reifer, who never played the spin with the convictionfor which he is known to.Barbados won the toss here yesterday and nothing else.Guyana, packed with a host of current internationals andurged on by 9000 hometown supporters, thoroughly outplayedtheir opponents who have not beaten them in nine matchessince 1991.For those in the stands, it was carnival from the time CarlHooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were providing richentertainment. When they were not chanting Hoo-per, Hoo-per,Hoo-per, they were creating a cacophony of noises with ahost of varying instruments.For the small contingent of Barbadians at the ground, it wasmisery, especially after the batsmen went after a successivevictory without all-rounder Ryan Hinds, whose viral illnessprompted the selectors to replace him with Collins at thelast minute.The balance of the side that included four fast bowlers anda solitary spinner, could have been affected. Maybe, theinclusion of Kurt Wilkinson might have been an option.We missed Ryan a lot, especially with the batting, Springersaid.We needed the extra fast bowler. We needed a specialistbowler, seeing that we had come to a batting pitch. Weneeded a bowler to get some wickets, Springer gave as thereason behind Collins’ inclusion ahead of Wilkinson.Guyana’s quartet of spinners applied so much pressure thatthe match was virtually over by 4 p.m.There were marked differences between the two sides,especially in the fielding. Guyana did not drop a chance andrarely misfielded. Barbados missed at least four catches andthe ground fielding was atrocious in the early stages.Fortunes went back and forth a few times during the Guyanainnings on a sun-baked morning. For the first ten overs,Barbados were terribly sloppy in the field. Campbell andReifer, supposedly two of the safer catchers, muffed chancesthey should have taken in successive overs from Collins whobowled a very sharp opening spell.Barbados were able to pull things back, mainly through theefforts of Ian Bradshaw, whose variation in pace provedeffective.After Bradshaw bowled Ramnaresh Sarwan off the inside edge,came the moment Guyanese were waiting for.Hooper and Chanderpaul were paired together with 30 oversremaining. Hooper was typical Hooper in a stroke-filled 47off 55 balls, but Chanderpaul could not find rhythm, timingor placement until Hooper departed after a fourth-wicketstand of 77 in 16.4 overs.The struggling Chanderpaul suddenly became commanding and hemade the ground shake in successive balls when he hoistedBradshaw to long-on for successive sixes. The first ended upsomewhere in the Rohan Kanhai Stand and the second went waybeyond.Chanderpaul’s dismissal for 52 off 74 balls to a smart catchby Benn at mid-off, however, denied Guyana the services oftheir two most heralded batsman for the final ten overs ofthe innings.It didn’t matter in the end.