Chanderpaul caps memorable week with milestones

 PROVIDENCE, Guyana

A memorable week for Shivnarine Chanderpaul on home soil culminated with him being named Man-of-the-Match for his 10th One-day International (ODI) century that led West Indies to a series-levelling, 21-run victory in the second match against England on Sunday.

To the delight of the biggest crowd that attended an ODI in Guyana, Chanderpaul struck an undefeated 112 from 134 balls to propel West Indies to 264 for eight from their 50 overs before they dismissed England with 10 balls to spare.

Chanderpaul has been showered with two major national awards over the last few days, and on Saturday a street that now bears his name was unveiled.

The pint-sized left-hander has always been a favourite in his homeland and would have relished joining Brian Lara and Desmond Haynes as the only other West Indies batsmen to have scored 8,000 ODI runs before his home crowd.

Important game

“I just want to thank the fans for their support over the last few days,” he said.

“This was an important game for us and a good game for us. Fortunately, we were able to play well and came out on top.

“We have been competitive throughout the series and we have been fighting hard, so hopefully we can take the same attitude into the games in Barbados.”

Chanderpaul added 133 from 177 balls for the third wicket with compatriot Ramnaresh Sarwan, who scored 74 from 89 balls, to give West Indies a boost in the middle overs, after they slid to 24 for two in the sixth over.

“We usually get good pitches in Guyana and though they are slow, you just have to apply yourself and you will get runs and this is what I tried to do,” he said.

Reverse sweep

Chanderpaul usually gathers runs with nudges and deflections, but he has added a new stroke to his repertoire, the reverse sweep.

“Every time I get a chance in the nets I keep practising it, so that whenever the game comes around it would not be too hard to play and it has brought me some important runs,” he said.

Chanderpaul pocketed a medal and US $1,000 for his Man-of-the-Match award.

Source: Jamaica Gleaner