Chanderpaul treated unfairly

[jrwb]

Without a doubt Bravo bowled very well to take his four wickets in the first ODI against Sri Lanka, but I believe Gomes erred in awarding man-of-the-match to Bravo. Perhaps he was told who to give it to...

Not only did Chanderpaul score the highest number of runs in the match, he scored exactly in the two deliveries remaining a six and a four; the only reasonably available scoring strokes to bring victory to the so-often beleagured West Indians. This is not something that is done very often, and without those two strokes, WI would definitely have lost the game. Those two shots represent a truly great demonstration of batsmanship.

I have always thought of Chanderpaul as a very good batsman, and I now consider him to be among the truly great West Indian batsmen, not because of the quantity of runs or the quality and style of his batting - but because of his constant and regular dedication so evident when he's at the crease - he always appears to be thinking and concentrating deeply, and quite often unaffected by local conditions so often detrimental to other batsmen.

[Aurelius]

Well, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I actually agree with you!

That was a genuine match-winning knock by Chanderpaul, as well as Bravo obviously bowled, if Chanders hadn't held the innings together Bravo's efforts would have come to nothing.

And I also agree about Chanderpaul's status as a great. He's held the middle-order together for years now. He may not be a flashy or an elegant player, but as important as Allan Border was to the '80s Australians, Chanderpaul is to today's West Indians.

[greg]

I didn't see the game but you can see why Bravo was given it looking at the scorecard as he got 4 wickets took a catch and scored 36 in a tight game.

To be honest though i don't think either Bravo or Chanderpaul were bothered who was made man of the match as they probably just wanted the victory.

[Navdeep]

Agree iwth the opening post.

I watched patches of the game, and although Bravo bowled very well upfront to take a few key wickets, along with another late on, Shivs late drama was spectacular. Yes, he also helped hold the innings together, but it was Shiv (who so often does) who carried them through to the finish line.

Vaas had bowled 9 overs for 17/18 runs, and after Benn wasting 5 dot balls, the pressure was heaped on. 10 from 2. As soon as he hit that match winning 6, the scenes were magnificent, only ones the Windies can provide....even i have to admit i had a smile on my face as that 6 landed just over the reach of Sr Lanka skip Mahela Jayawardene

[jrwb]

Originally Posted by greg

To be honest though i don't think either Bravo or Chanderpaul were bothered who was made man of the match as they probably just wanted the victory.

Who cares? I was bothered - fair is fair.