SPORTS

SA bowling proved its worth: Smith

By Telford Vice
May 04, 2005 14:58 IST

South Africa's Graeme Smith believes his team has answered questions about the quality of their attack in the series against West Indies, which they won 2-0 after the fourth Test was drawn on Tuesday.

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"The bowlers stepped up when it counted, Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini created the inroads for us up front," South Africa captain Smith told a news conference.

Between them fast bowlers Nel and Ntini took 34 of the 54 West Indian wickets to fall in the series.

"I don't think anyone was questioning our ability to bat and score runs," Smith said. "The main question was how we were going to take 20 wickets."

South Africa took the series with a victory by eight wickets in the second Test in Port of Spain and a win in the third Test in Bridgetown by an innings and 86 runs.

The teams now start a five-match one-day series with games in Kingston on Saturday and Sunday, and Smith expects a stern challenge from the home side.

"We will have to make a very big mental shift for the one-day series," he said. "I think one-day cricket suits the Windies better because they've got power batting."

POOR BATTING

West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul said poor batting had cost his team the test series.

"From the beginning we've been doing so much hard work, trying to get it right and trying to get the batsmen to perform," Chanderpaul told a news conference.

"We have a young attack, but if we put more runs on the board we would have given ourselves a better chance.

"All of our top batsmen scored hundreds in the series, but they never did so together."

Chanderpaul also felt his players were not in peak condition.

"We're probably not as fit as we should be, mentally and physically," he said.

Chanderpaul scored 127 and Dwayne Bravo made a maiden 107 on Tuesday to bring the total number of centuries scored in the fourth test to eight, a world record.

"My plan was to ensure that I stayed with the skipper while he got his century," Bravo told a news conference.

"Once he got out I realised I had a chance."

Bravo was 74 not out when West Indies lost their eighth wicket, and 80 not out when the ninth wicket fell.

He said he had retained faith in his lower order team mates.

"Credit must also go to (number nine) Daren Powell and (number 11) Dwight Washington, I believed in their ability to bat," Bravo said.

Bravo agreed with Smith that West Indies would be more competitive in the one-day series.

"We're looking forward to the one-day series because we feel we are a stronger one-day team."

Telford Vice
Source: REUTERS
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