Windies struggle to post 230 for five in signing off game

Bridgetown, Barbados, Apr 19 (UNI) Morally devastated West Indian team today choked against a spirited Bangladeshi attack before Ramnaresh Sarwan rescued them with a brilliant 91 as the host stuttered to put up 230 runs for five wickets in their last World Cup match here today.

Had it not been Sarwan and some late firing by Brian Lara (31), the match was significantly dominated by Bangladeshis, who never allowed the home team to go off the hook throughout the innings.

Sarwan continued his good form and built his innings first with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and then with Lara as the middle order of the West Indies team finally clicked but not without a struggle against a presumably inferior attack.

West Indies' problem is more in mental than cricket pitch as after the fall of Chris Gayle and Devon Smith within the first four over, the home team dug up a hole and from them they seemed to have lost their way out.

Such was the nervousness of Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuel that they made sure that Bangladesh fast bowlers looked better than Shane Bond and Brett Lee and in fact allowed the military medium pace of the Bangladeshi bowler to come top on them till the end.

As nothing is at stake for them in the World Cup any longer, the West Indian batsmen were perhaps more worried over a public backlash than anything else and that froze their natural ability.

There was nothing in the pitch and bowling was of nothing great standard but for inexplicable reasons every playing shot of Chanderpaul and Samuels ended up in the hands of the Bangladeshi fielders till the final over.

Bangladesh, flying home tomorrow ending a memorable World Cup campaign, were actually tigers on the field jumping and latching anything came on their way and in fact allowed only nine boundaries till the 35th over when was also the first six innings was scored.

Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar buoyed by this unexpected success in restricting the West Indies, rotated his bowlers cleverly allowing the opening fast bowlers to go up to 15th over at one go, a rare commodity in modern day cricket when wicket was not showing any deadly bounce at all.

The spinning trio took after that and did not disappoint the small Bangladeshi fans and continued to spin a web around Chanderpaul and Sarwan who joined the former after Manuel fell to Saqibul Hasan.

Chanderpaul's most laboured fifty of his one-day career came after playing 84 balls and he would not like to remember as it came against a team which was supposed to be the original ''minnows'' of the tournament although they defeated India and South Africa on the way.

His agonising innings however came to an end a ball later after a missed mighty heave saw his wicket broken by Aftab Ahmed, which brought captain Brian Lara to the wicket for the penultimate time.

Meanwhile Sarwan celebrated the unconfirmed news of captaincy thursted upon him, with one more half century and was poised to take West Indies for a respectable total. He in fact survived a run out when umpire did not seek Third Umpire's decision but TV replays showed he was short of the creates by a few millimeter.

He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and with Lara tried to push the score. But perhaps it was too. Lara playing his penultimate innings of one day career, showed his peerless ability, hitting a trade mark six over cover but he fell next over trying to repeat the shot. His brief innings of 33 runs brought in the much-delayed urgency to scoring and only because of him West Indies could post a 200 plus score.

UNI