Scorecard
If Michael Vaughan’s England side was let off the hook by bad light in Faisalabad, then the – or verdict – on the women’s side against India on the final day at Delhi was slightly more heartening. Resolute batting from Charlotte Edwards (46), the captain, Arran Brindle (46), and Jenny Gunn (32) staved off defeat and thwarted India’s bid for a maiden Test win against England, Edwards’ side finishing the day on 210 for 6.The Indian women gave nothing away though. The fielding was enthusiastic, the bowling tight, but in the end the resolve of the English batsmen shone over all else. Veteran spinner Neetu David consistently found turn from a slow pitch, and she beat the bat on numerous occasions. Nooshin Al Khader, however, was the pick of the bowlers, sending down 32 miserly overs for just 30 runs, picking up the wickets of Laura Newton, Clair Taylor and Lydia Greenway to stymie England’s run chase.Earlier, England’s batsmen produced a good morning session by adding 109 to their overnight 3 for 0, with Edwards standing tall with a 94-ball 46. She was eventually out, leg before, to the persistent Jhulan Goswami, with England 73 for 3. Brindle and Gunn then added 73 for the fourth wicket before Brindle was run out for 46 as the scoring rate slowed. She hit four boundaries as well as the solitary six of the match, but was unlucky to be dismissed just four short of a deserved fifty. Her dismissal, on the stroke of tea, meant England were 146 for 4, still 165 runs adrift of their target.At this stage, Mithali Raj, India’s captain, used an attacking field to try and put pressure on England, and the efforts of her fielders would have pleased her. A hard punch down the ground just after lunch by Gunn was met by a diving mid-off fielder, saving a certain boundary. Al Khader struck again to have Greenway caught by Raj for a laborious 6 off 51 deliveries, and England looked in trouble at this stage.Yet, as it became evident that a win was out of reach, Rosalie Birch and Laura Harper put their heads down and avoided any further checks to their progress. A loud appeal for a very close lbw against Harper was turned down by umpire RD Singh – to the clear frustration of Al Khader – but it was to be the last tense image on a day in which determination was the name of the game.Goswami was eventually adjudged Man of the Match for her spirited showing with the bat and ball throughout the match.

Mamta Maben will lead the Indian Women team in the forthcoming series against New Zealand.The New Zealand Women team, known as the Silver Ferns, will play a one-off Test and five one-day Internationals in India. The tour begins on November 23rd with a warm up match at Mumbai.Indian Squad
1 Mamta Maben (capt), 2 Anju Jain (wk), 3 Mithali Raj, 4 Jaya Sharma, 5 Hemlata Kala, 6 Neetu David, 7 Anjum Chopra, 8 Deepa Kulkarni, 9 Jhulan Goswami, 10 Amita Sharma, 11 Sunetra Paranjpe, 12 Karuna Jain, 13 Nooshin al Kadeer, 14 Diana David, 15 Babusha Singh

Bob Cottam believes you are as old – or as young – as you feel and right now he feels great thanks to the work he is doing as bowling coach at the ICC’s Winter Training Camp (WTC) in Pretoria.”I am 61 years old but at the moment I feel like I am 25,” said Cottam, who is working with some of the best bowlers from the six Associate countries set to take part in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean. “Coaching these boys is massively rewarding and that reward comes from working with them every day and seeing them improve – you cannot put a price on that, it is such a buzz. The day I no longer get that buzz and no longer enjoy the banter and the interaction with players is the day I will pack up but I do not reckon that day will come any time soon.”Cottam’s brief during the 11-week camp is to try and take the bowlers at the WTC to the next level because a lack of bowling firepower has been identified as a major reason why Associates struggle to compete with the so-called big boys of world cricket.”Our aim is to find the special talents that will make a real difference to the potency of Associate attacks,” said Richard Done, the ICC’s High Performance Manager. “Because of this we are prepared to take some risks in giving raw talent the chance to develop. With Henry Osinde from Canada and the two Kenyans, Nehemiah Ngoche and Alfred Luseno, we have some good pace to develop whilst Canada’s Umar Bhatti and the Scotland duo of Gordon Goudie and Dewald Nel are all capable of swinging the ball.”In Cottam, the WTC has someone who has a wealth of talent on either side of the boundary rope. As a fast bowler he took over 1000 first-class wickets during a 14-year career that included four England caps, and since he stopped playing he has carved out an equally successful coaching career.Cottam was England’s bowling coach from 1998 to 2001 and helped develop Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick into a devastating combination. He has also worked with other great bowlers including West Indies legend Courtney Walsh.So how does he find the difference between working with the game’s elite and the Associate players at the WTC, many of whom are experiencing the lives of full-time professional athletes for the first time in Pretoria?”When you are working with world-class bowlers your main job is to build their confidence,” said Cottam. “You can check for the little things like making sure their wrist position is correct but mainly it is all about maintaining their good habits and confidence. The difference between them and the guys here at the WTC is that these boys are still learning the game, how to bowl and how to get the best and most out of themselves and that is what we are trying to achieve.”They all have natural talent and we are looking to ensure they have the physical and technical basics and that involves a high level of fitness and a repeatable action. Once they have that solid base then we are expanding their skill levels to include slower balls, use of the crease, orthodox and reverse swing and so on.”While Canada’s off-spinning allrounder John Davison has been looking after the slow bowlers, Cottam has focused on the men who look to seam and swing the ball. “What I have done is look at every bowler’s actions, and that includes video analysis with each of them, on a one-to-one basis,” he said. “I only look to make changes to a bowler – his action, wrist position, run-up, whatever it may be – if I think it means he will improve. My policy is to discuss any possible changes with the player beforehand and I will ask `Shall we try this?’ If he agrees then we go ahead and so far every bowler has bought in to any suggestion I have made.”And Cottam, who coached Scotland’s bowlers during their run to victory in the ICC Trophy earlier this year, believes real progress has been made with several of the players at the WTC. “At least two or three of these bowlers could play county cricket in the UK if they maintain their form and fitness,” he said. “Henry Osinde and Alfred Luseno have come on in leaps and bounds and Umar Bhatti, the left-arm swing bowler, is also making great progress. They are training every day, they are appreciating how to look after their bodies and their bowling actions, and several of the lads really are class acts now.”We played a match the other day and Henry Osinde’s first six overs were absolutely superb. They were pacey, he swung the ball and he did not bowl a single no-ball – he was outstanding,”The key now is for the bowlers to keep up their fitness work and progress once the WTC ends in late December but Cottam is hopeful they will. “If they can maintain the standards they have set here then hopefully their team mates will see how they have improved and the work ethic will rub off on them,” he said. And the man who coaches youngsters near his home in Devon in the south west of England whenever he can said he uses the example of Walsh to show the players in Pretoria what it takes to succeed at the highest level.”When I worked with Courtney he already had 300 Test wickets and one day, at a non-compulsory net session with his county side Gloucestershire, he asked me what I thought of his bowling. I said `for a bloke with your number of Test wickets you have got the worst slower ball I have ever seen,’ and he said, `okay then, teach me how to bowl a decent one.’ We experimented with various grips and then decided to go to the nets to try it out and the first time he bowled it he fooled the batsman completely and had him miscue a catch to where mid-off would have been. That really impressed Courtney but rather than rest on his laurels he insisted on trying it out on every other batsman who came to the nets over a two-hour period until he was completely happy with it.”That two-hour session and subsequent work he put in was rewarded because in the latter stages of his career Courtney became one of the best bowlers of the slower ball in world cricket. I use it as an example that you only get out what you put in and it is a lesson the players here seem keen to learn so that is great.”Players attending the WTCBermuda – Jekon Edness, Jim West, Stephen Outerbridge & Azeem PitcherCanada – Qaiser Ali, Umar Bhatti, Kenneth Carto & Henry Osinde (plus John Davison, who is filling a coaching role)Ireland – Trevor Britton, Kenneth Carroll & Eoin MorganKenya – Nehemiah Ngoche, Alfred Luseno & Kalpesh PatelNetherlands – Tom de GroothScotland – Richard Berrington, Kasim Farid, Gordon Goudie, Ross Lyons, Dewald Nel, Qasim Sheikh, Fraser Watts & Sean Weeraratna

Shaun Tait, the South Australian fast bowler, returns to domestic duty following rehabilitation for a shoulder injury, while Paul Rofe is likely to be out for three weeks.The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) today announced the teams to compete against Tasmania in the ING Cup and Pura Cup matches starting at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday. Tait underwent shoulder surgery in October and these two matches will be his first since then. He was a member of Australia’s Ashes side this past summer, and played in the fourth and fifth Tests with a best return of 3 for 97. Rofe has been ruled out of selection having had arthroscopy surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.Ken Skewes, a 21-year-old allrounder, was included in the thirteen-man ING Cup squad. Skewes, who plays for Grade club Woodville, top-scored for South Australia in their Twenty20 clash against Western Australia on Tuesday.The 12th-man, and Supersub for the ING Cup game, will be named on the morning of the matches.South Australia ING Cup squad: 1 Darren Lehmann (capt), 2 Graham Manou (vice-capt,w/k), 3 Greg Blewett, 4 Cameron Borgas, 5 Mark Cleary, 6 Mark Cosgrove, 7 Daniel Cullen, 8 Shane Deitz, 9 Mathew Elliot, 10 Callum Ferguson, 11 Trent Kelly, 12 Ken Skewes, 13 Shaun TaitSouth Australia Pura Cup squad: 1 Darren Lehmann (capt), 2 Graham Manou (vice-capt,w/k), 3 Cullen Baily, 4 Greg Blewett, 5 Cameron Borgas, 6 Mark Cosgrove, 7 Daniel Cullen, 8 Shane Deitz, 9 Mathew Elliot, 10 Callum Ferguson, 11 Jason Gillespie, 12 Shaun Tait

West Indies arrived in New Zealand on Friday on their latest mission overseas, yet again weighed down by a burden of their own making. The consequences are likely to be the same as those that overwhelmed them twice in Australia and once in Sri Lanka last year.In each case, the spectre of the row between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) hovered destructively over the cricket. The upshot was inevitable. An unsettled team managed only one victory in six matches in the VB Series in Australia and was knocked out after the first round. By the time Sri Lanka came around six months later, the wound had been allowed to fester to such an extent that a makeshift team, under a changed captain, was sent while the majority of dissatisfied leading players remained at home. The replacements lost both Tests and three of four ODIs-and even that was better than expected.While the standoff between the WICB and the WIPA was finally ended, shamefully by the intervention of foreign mediators, and the team that ventured to Australia in October for the series of three Tests was the strongest available, the time was too short to expect players on opposite sides of the divide only weeks earlier to be suddenly united again. The discord was evident to everyone close to the tour and to those watching the 3-0 drubbing through their television sets on the other side of the globe. It was subsequently borne out by captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s scarcely veiled hints (“There is not much I can do, really. There are a lot of things coming from inside”) that he and coach Bennett King, the two supposed leaders, didn’t see eye to eye. These were issues that, in the past, would have been aired, and cleared, at a debriefing involving captain, coach and manager before a properly constituted cricket committee of the WICB.The problem was that, over the years, the WICB’s directors paid little heed to such a committee and it duly disappeared. So Chanderpaul, King and manager Tony Howard went their separate ways after the tour while public criticism, and cynicism, mounted.Into the vacuum stepped Chetram Singh, president of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), with a proposal to establish a committee to review the work of King and his all-Australian crew and establish whether they were worth their annual US$1 million salary. Singh is the WICB’s longest-serving director. As such, he would have been party to the hiring of the coaching staff 15 months earlier, the size of the salary and the conditions of employment, all of which he would have reported back to the GCB. He may not be the only one now questioning the collective decision but, in any competent organisation, such a performance review of staff is a routine, internal matter.Not so the WICB. With much fanfare, it acceded to Singh’s submission with the appointment of a special panel of renowned former players and mandated it to report back by February 15. It was seemingly unaware of the irony that the date coincides with the start of the New Zealand tour and of the impact such a pointed, widely publicised investigation could have on the coach’s authority and, by extension, on the captain and the team.So no sooner than the damaging divergence of the row over sponsorship and disputed clauses in tour contracts fades into the background than this new, wearisome issue takes its place. As it is, Chanderpaul, King and the players already have enough to occupy their attention in New Zealand.If their opponents are palpably not as powerful as their neighbours across the Tasman Sea, they have a strong record at home, not least against West Indies teams that have ventured there over the past 55 years. The West Indies’ previous visit, six years ago, was one of their most disastrous, even in the decade of decline. Defeat in both Tests and all five one-day internationals so depressed Brian Lara that he resigned the captaincy and took time off from the game to consider his future. The challenge is just as daunting this time.The West Indies are firmly lodged at the bottom of the eight genuine international teams in both forms of the game, with a win-loss record of 1-8 in Tests and 2-15 in ODIs in the past year. The incomparable Lara, the linchpin of the batting, has declared himself unavailable for the ODIs as he seeks to extend his Test career at the age 36 and the most effective bowlers of the recent past are all missing-Corey Collymore and Pedro Collins through injury, Jermaine Lawson through the enforced change of action that has significantly cut his pace.The only bowler available with a Test average of less than 40 is Dwayne Bravo, an ebullient young all-rounder of immense potential but, as yet, only nine Tests. Fidel Edwards (53 Test wickets at 45 runs each), Daren Powell (39 at 42) and Jerome Taylor (three at 72) are the faster men expected to provide the cutting edge. Ian Bradshaw and Rawl Lewis, both 31, are two seasoned campaigners in regional cricket who are likely to shoulder considerable responsibility. But Bradshaw is yet to play a Test and Lewis last briefly presented his leg-breaks and googlies in Test cricket seven years ago.Until Lara joins for the Tests, the batting must revolve around Chanderpaul (91 Tests), vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan (58) and Chris Gayle (54). The others lack either experience or statistical credentials or both. It is a chance for Daren Ganga (probably the last), Runako Morton (realistically the first) and Devon Smith to show that they are Test batsmen worthy of the title and for Bravo and Denesh Ramdin to build on the reputations they have quickly forged in their brief careers.With the World Cup 13 months away, the one-day series, against tough opponents, is the first genuine chance since the VB Series in Australia a year ago to sort out combinations and assess individuals. Another 15 such matches-at home against Zimbabwe and India at home, away against Pakistan-are available to determine a settled team, imperative in advance of the tournament. In this regard, Dwayne Smith will be keenly assessed. He has been given every opportunity but he is yet to fulfil his obvious potential to become the West Indies’ Shahid Afridi, a potential match-winner with his fierce hitting, electric fielding and steady bowling. The selectors’ patience may be running out.They won’t have to contend, as they did a few months back, with Australia’s power-packed batting or the pace of Brett Lee, the Chinese-torture of Glenn McGrath and wizardry of Shane Warne, but Stephen Fleming leads a handy team all the same.It was always going to be a tricky assignment. By tossing in its latest distraction, the WICB has made it even more so.

Scorecard

Stuart MacGill hit the trophy-winning run for the second time in two seasons as New South Wales clung on for a one-wicket victory over South Australia at Adelaide. The Blues almost didn’t make it as Shaun Tait produced a stunning performance of 6 for 41 – he took the first five wickets as the Redbacks tried valiantly to defend only 154 – but MacGill’s leg glance off Darren Lehmann earned them the final ING Cup prize in a similar manner to last season’s Pura Cup success.Corey Richards and Phil Jaques made a comfortable start after Tait had knocked over Craig Simmons for 1, but Tait returned with a brutal over that included the wickets of Richards (35), Jaques (21) and Matthew Phelps (0). Brad Haddin and Dominic Thornely combined for a 44-run partnership to steer the side away from the trouble of 4 for 67 before Tait struck again.Thornely edged him off the back foot to Mark Cosgrove at first slip, Haddin was run out by Callum Ferguson and when Tait struck his sixth wicket, a fierce short ball for the caught-behind of Jason Krejza, New South Wales were 20 runs short with three batsmen remaining. Moises Henriques, who captained Australia to the semi-finals of the Under-19 World Cup this month, walked out to meet Aaron O’Brien and remained composed with an unbeaten 5 off 21 balls as O’Brien departed seven runs short of the total and Aaron Bird left with six still needed.However, MacGill again showed his batting capabilities under extreme pressure and heaved his team to victory, just as he did against Queensland at the Gabba in 2004-05. “We just keep coming up with the goods in the finals,” Haddin said before collecting the trophy, which his state has won in four of the past six seasons. Tait was an easy choice as Man of the Match and Lehmann hoped the result would help his young team in the future. “To my players: so close yet so far, a great experience,” he said.The Blues were set for a strolling chase once they dismissed South Australia for 154 in only 43.5 overs. Bird created problems with 3 for 30 after the home side had cruised to 1 for 66. However, they quickly lost 5 for 24, including Mark Cosgrove for 49, and relied on Graham Manou (28) and Mark Cleary (26) to drag them towards 150. Doug Bollinger was also effective and Stuart MacGill and O’Brien matched his two wickets.New Wales collected Au$75,000 for the win that ended ING’s 14-year involvement with the competition. David Hussey, the Victoria batsman, won the Fastest Fifty award for his 36-ball effort against the Warriors while the Best New Talent was Western Australia’s Brett Dorey, who was rewarded earlier in the season with an Australia one-day cap.

Alamgir Sheriyar has been handed the chance to resurrect his career with Leicestershire offering him a short trial. He has joined the club, where he began his first-class career in 1994, for the rest of their pre-season preparations and will be given the opportunity to show what he can do in an early season match.”He is one of a number of seam bowlers we are having a look at because we need to strengthen that department,” Tim Boon, Leicestershire’s coach, told the club’s website. “A decision on whether he stays with us won’t be made until we’ve had an opportunity to look at him in a match.”Sheriyar, 32, has taken 503 first-class wickets but was released by Kent at the end of the last season. He only played 11 matches for Leicestershire in his first stint at the club, before enjoying more success with Worcestershire during which time he earned an England A call-up.Leicestershire have lost five seam bowlers over the winter with Ottis Gibson and Charl Willoughby moving to new teams, while Charlie Dagnall and David Brignull where released and Phil DeFreitas retired.

Bennett King has a familiar story to tell when he reports on his latest assignment to Ken Gordon, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, Joey Carew, convenor of selectors, and Clive Lloyd, recently-appointed head of the cricket committee, in Antigua today, less than 24 hours after his return.The tour of New Zealand that ended with the rain-ruined third Test in Napier on Wednesday was the head coach’s fourth overseas, following two to Australia and one to Sri Lanka last year. Like the others, it ended in defeat and disappointment.The main reasons would have been obvious to Gordon and his colleagues from what they saw through the television coverage and read from comments on tour by King himself, captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul and some of the other players, not least the most experienced, Brian Lara.The failure of the middle-order batting, notably the key men, Chanderpaul and Lara, inappropriate shot selection and missed catches at critical moments led to the narrow defeat in the first Test and contributed to the comprehensive loss in the second. The injuries that reduced Dwayne Bravo’s allround capacity to batting and fielding alone and confined Jerome Taylor to nine overs in his only Test were also significant setbacks.Above all, as Lara observed at the end, the continuing lack of mental toughness undermined the effort against efficient, but hardly overwhelming, opponents in both Tests and one-day internationals. The outcome in New Zealand also ensures that the issue of leadership is high on the agenda, not only at today’s meeting but at selectorial and board level in the coming weeks.Decisions have to be taken on the captaincy and, following the review by the committee headed by Jackie Hendriks, the coaching. Chanderpaul is not the first captain to endure such a prolonged period of failure but none has been so unsuited to the role or so uncomfortable in it.Until thrust into the position by the contentious circumstances of last year, his cricket was focused exclusively on batting, on accumulating runs, however, they came, on substance rather than style. His record attests to his success.Quiet to the point of introversion, he did not have to concern himself with determining tactics or mastering the skills necessary to communicate with his players and the media. It was too much to expect him to suddenly grasp such complexities, especially at such a turbulent time in West Indies cricket.

He has tried his best, as he always does, but the demands have become such a burden they have undermined his confidence and severely affected his batting, his one, abiding passion. Since the Sri Lanka series last July, when the leading players deserted him, his stance has become more awkwardly front-on as he has gone 14 Test innings without a half-century.They are statistics that undermine his authority and enough for him to be relieved of the weight and worry of leadership so that he can get back to doing what he does best, score runs. The sooner the decision is made to elevate vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan to the position, the better to end negative speculation.The seven successive ODIs against a weakened Zimbabwe are next on the West Indies’ schedule, an ideal introduction for a new, younger skipper. Throughout New Zealand, King and his all-Australian staff remained under the cloud of the Hendriks committee’s report and the inevitable rumours that followed the release of its findings.The head coach’s presentation today will be inevitably made against this background of uncertainty, even given the committee’s conclusion that “there was not sufficient evidence to work with in determining whether the investment in the coaching staff had paid dividends” and its subsequent recommendation that they be given “more opportunity before a further evaluation is made”.In his debriefing, King will find difficulty in explaining how, in two of the ODIs and, more frustratingly, in the first Test, probable victory slipped rapidly from the grasp of a team consumed by the powerful insecurity of years of failure.In the second ODI, New Zealand were 49 for the loss of the top five yet they breezed past the 201 needed to win with three wickets and eight overs to spare. In the third, the West Indies were 127 for two after 20 overs going after 277. Two wickets in the 21st over transformed that position into eventual defeat by 21 runs.The mental meltdown was most pronounced and momentous in the first Test. At 150 for seven in their second innings, New Zealand were 168 ahead and down to the keeper and the bowlers. They rallied to add 122 after Daniel Vettori was dropped at four.It meant the West Indies were left 291 to win but an opening partnership of 148 between Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga set the foundations for a result that would have been an enormous boost to the team’s confidence. It came to nothing as Nos.3 to 7 contributed 36 between them. The margin of defeat was 27.

Yet what King will have to report today is not all gloom and doom. There was the continuing development and strengthening of Fidel Edwards as a genuine strike bowler.Against widespread scepticism that the task of taking 20 wickets in a match is beyond the limited bowling attack, it did so in the first Test, as it had done in the two at home against Pakistan last season, and would have been more effective with better support in the field.At last, Gayle and Ganga provided more solid starts than other pairs had managed for some time (47, 148, 43, 54 and 37 against 20, 11, 12, 4, 16 and 2 in the previous series in Australia). And, not to be underestimated, the coach can rightly point out that there were definite advances in moulding a team ethic among the players, many of whom were on opposite sides in the bitter standoff between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) only a few months earlier.There was an unmistakeable camaraderie off the field, especially among the many younger members, that is an encouraging sign for the future. The problem, of course, is that it hasn’t reflected in the results.

It may not have been all that tough for Shivnarine Chanderpaul to relinquish the West Indies captaincy. Except for any superficial damage to his ego, it was his only real option after a turbulent year in which he enjoyed only one Test victory and two one-day wins. Would it have been any different if he and his team had held their nerve and won the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park?Probably, but the fact that they didn’t reinforced the belief that this is a side that has become so accustomed to losing that they are almost paralysed by anxiety in a tight situation. The fact that there is no obvious successor, and really hasn’t been for the last five years, speaks volumes, not just about the parlous state of the game, but the quality of individuals being produced by West Indian societies.Despite all of that, the West Indies Cricket Board must announce the new captain sooner rather than later. We can do without all sorts of wild speculation over the coming days, especially with the start of the seven-match limited-over series against Zimbabwe just two weeks away.Even if I still believe that Wavell Hinds will do a good job, I have to concede that going the way of picking a captain who is not an automatic selection in the final XI is unprecedented in contemporary West Indies cricket and would probably create more problems that it solves. For all of his apparent reluctance to take on the responsibility, too much time, money and effort has been invested in Ramnaresh Sarwan for him not to recognise that he has a duty to step up to the challenge if called upon.As vice-captain for most of the last three years and an established batsman in the middle-order, the 25-year-old “veteran” has enjoyed a free ride-seniority without real responsibility-for long enough. It may bring the best out of him and we will all say why the decision wasn’t made earlier. The other side of the coin, of course, is that the burden of leading a team that will still be losing much more than winning for some time could take a toll on his confidence and his batting, much in the same way as Chanderpaul has been affected.But like ending one footballer’s World Cup dream in a month’s time, tough decisions have to be made with an eye to the future. Unlike the legal profession, you can’t opt for a course of action, lose and then interpret it as a victory. Only politicians and their rabid following fall for that nonsense.

Kevin Curran was delighted with Zimbabwe’s performance as they thrashed Canada by 143 runs in the opening match of the Tri-Nation ODI series in Trinidad.”It was obviously important for us to win this game,” said Curran, Zimbabwe’s coach. “Having come from the West Indies tour where we were the underdogs, today we went in as a Test nation against an Associate Member.”We batted well until the last 12 overs where I thought we should have added another 30 or 40 runs. Yes, 220 was a winning score but if we had a perfect batting display we should have made 250.” Curran singled out Man-of-the-Match Piet Rinke for praise, saying he “played very well after a poor tour following good outings in the warm-up matches and the home series against Kenya before that.”We were outstanding in fielding and it was due reward for all the hard workwe have put into it that the first two wickets fell to run-outs. Tawanda Mupariwa and Blessing Mahwire bowled a good length and stuck to their plan. In fact, everyone pretty much stuck to the game plan. Today we got it together in all three departments and played very well.”But Curran was not impressed with the Queen’s Park Oval pitch, which he said was not suitable for a one-day international. “It’s got too much turn and if you get good spinners it could be tricky. On Saturday we will play on the same wicket, and if we face Canada again they have a couple of reasonable left-arm spinners.”