Windies rip through Zimbabwe

Seamer Darren Sammy took an ODI-best 4-26 as West Indies skittled Zimbabwe for 104 to win by 141 runs and go 2-1 up

Buy this photo

West Indies showed Zimbabwe the value of quality seam bowling as they dismissed the tourists for 104 to win the third one-day international by 141 runs and go 2-1 ahead in the five-match series.

Zimbabwe sent down 41 overs of spin as the hosts posted 245 for nine, a score which, boosted by some lower-order hitting, proved to be more than competitive on a tough St Vincent wicket.

That bowling performance was in stark contrast to that of West Indies, whose spinner Nikita Miller did not bowl until the pace attack had taken nine wickets, including a career-best 4-26 in 10 overs from Darren Sammy.

Zimbabwe’s total, meanwhile, was the lowest in one-day internationals at the Arnos Vale Ground.

The tourists surprisingly chose to field first but Windies skipper Chris Gayle was unusually subdued with the bat, though he outscored his opening partner Adrian Barath with 33 off 53 balls in a stand of 48.

The highlight was a six off Ray Price, who opened the bowling, but he was stumped by Tatenda Taibu when he strayed out of his ground to a flighted Prosper Utseya delivery.

Barath and Shivnarine Chanderpaul struggled to do much with the barrage of spin, and the former fell to a catch by Timycen Maruma at long-on for 35, giving Utseya his second wicket.

Chanderpaul clipped a six off Graeme Cremer to take West Indies past 100 as he and Denesh Ramdin accumulated, but in general it was uninspiring stuff.

The pair fell in successive balls, Ramdin to a mistimed pull off Maruma for 19 and Chanderpaul run out for 58 attempting a suicidal single.

Narsingh Deonarine and Dwayne Bravo attempted to pick up the pace, each scoring 20-odd at a run a ball, before some late swipes from Kieron Pollard and Ravi Rampaul took West Indies close to 250, well above the average first-innings score at Arnos Vale.

If the first half of the game had been a sleepy affair, Kemar Roach brought some life to proceedings by uprooting Vusi Sibanda’s off stump with his third ball.

Zimbabwe briefly rallied with a partnership of 51 between Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor, but when the latter sent a simple return catch to Sammy on 19 it was the first of four wickets to fall for seven runs.

Taibu edged a jaffa from Sammy through to Ramdin and Stuart Matsikenyeri was lbw to Bravo, before top-scorer Masakadza was caught behind for 35 to give Sammy his third.

Roach then returned to take two more, including a stunning slip catch from Gayle to remove Greg Lamb, and Maruma was bowled by Sammy, who was denied a five-wicket haul when his skipper dropped Cremer.

He was caught at short third man off Bravo soon after and Miller got in on the act to take the final wicket - Price caught at short point - in a comprehensive victory.