Sport

Crucial clash

( LEFT - RIGHT ) Chris Gayle AND Wavell Hinds - FILE

THE WEST INDIES could return to the tried and tested opening pair of Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds when the regional team opposes Pakistan in the second game of the three-match one-day series in St. Lucia tomorrow.

Captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul and his men who trail 1-0 in the series must win tomorrow's game to keep the series alive.

Young opener Xavier Marshall has been having a torrid time with the bat and the more experienced Hinds, who batted in the middle order on Wednesday, could come back up to partner Gayle. Marshall batted at number eight in the rain-shortened fifth one-day match on Sunday against South Africa and made only six. He then scored three on Wednesday, batting at the top of the order.

Hinds was Gayle's regular partner in the recent Tests against South Africa but lost his place after the first two one-day matches which were played at Sabina Park. He scored just eleven on Wednesday but his greater overall experience will give him the edge.

Captain Chanderpaul hinted at the problems at the top of the West Indies batting order after the team lost their sixth home one-day match in a row on Wednesday, going down by 59 runs in a low-scoring game.

"We did not build any partnerships up the order and it just went right down to the bottom of our batting," Chanderpaul said.

Barbadian middle order batsman Dwayne Smith, a member of the 13-man squad named for the series, could be brought back to replace Marshall. Smith has also been a disappointment but he is a brilliant fielder and an explosive batsman in addition to being a good back up medium pace bowler.

There is unlikely to be any changes to the bowling attack which did very well in restricting Pakistan to 192 in 44.3 overs.

Pakistan are expected to field the same team for the second match. The dangerman remains Shahid Afridi who appeared ready to tear the West Indies bowling to shreds in the opening game before he was run out for 24.

Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq will just be hoping that his batsmen convert their good starts into half centuries or more. Six batsmen got into double figures on Wednesday but the top score was a modest 43 by the elegant opener Salman Butt.

The West Indies squad is:

Shivnarine Chanderpaul ­ Captain, Christopher Gayle, Xavier Marshall, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Wavell Hinds, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Courtney Browne, Corey Collymore, Daren Powell, Pedro Collins, Ian Bradshaw.