Enough is Enough. When will it change? Enough is Enough.....Enough...
It was always going to be difficult.Difficult to convince people to pay their cash to watch the West Indies play cricket.Difficult to convince the West Indies players, they were still in a contest even though they had lost all four of the one dayers so far. Difficult to convince the South African team that this was as easy as Sunday morning ( on a Thursday). The West Indies won the toss but thereafter their decision making in batting, bowling and even field placements were poor.Christopher Gayle chose to bat first and yet again the West Indies middle order and opening batsmen struggled to get quick runs.Veteran batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul topscored with 67, unfortunately he faced 104 deliveries in the process and just did not deliver enough runs after so much batting.
In the beginning, captain Gayle just did enough, but it was not good enough and he perished cheaply after facing 19 deliveries and scoring only 12. It was enough of the worst example of application and adjustment to the one day game. Thereafter, the rest of the batting succumbed tamely, even though Dwayne Bravo, Keiron Pollard and Darren Sammy threatened to change the tide, but alas , their combined efforts were not enough. Narsingh Deonarine clearly batting for a place on the Test team, seemed intent on not losing his wicket.
The total of 252-6 appeared inadequate on this slow surface and just not enough. South Africa, many in the crowd believed, would need to lose early wickets, Vishal and Rossi, two of the 5,500 West Indies fans brave enough to venture to the Queens Park Oval, were trying to convince each other that the West Indies could win. But there was a feeling that the pretty ladies in short pants and mini skirts in the Trini Posse Stand attracted more hope for the future ( just ask Nigel, Cuskee, Wayne, Justin, Kirk and Wendell)
The early loss of Graeme Smith to the indomitable spirit of Dwayne Bravo and then a brilliant run out of danger man Hamish Amla by the Keiron Pollard/Denesh Ramdhin partnership, gave everyone some hope.
Thereafter, the cricket was anything but glorious, and in very humid conditions, the South Africans set about doing just enough in every single over to ensure they achieved their targets.
Leading world allrounder, Jacques Kallis topscored for South Africa with 57 and was named Man of the Match.
But every time South Africa appeared to be on cruise control, they lost a wicket, as the West Indies kept doing enough to have the crowd expecting a West Indies victory. The West Indies lost the fourth one-dayer on the last ball, and heading into over 50 Thursday, South Africa needed seven runs and the West Indies needed one wicket. Gayle decided to leave deep backward square empty with tailenders swinging for all their worth and the West Indies paid the price as Roelof Van Der Merwe hit a boundary to that very spot. And, when number 11 batsman Lonwabo Tsotsobe punched Pollard for four with two balls left, everyone was left to wonder if enough is really enough with this team and when will it all changed....if ever.
