Lara demands same again from Smith
Richard Sydenham
WORLD CUP: West Indies captain Brian Lara said he expected more of
the same from all-rounder Dwayne Smith after he led his side to a 54-run
win over Pakistan in the World Cup opener at Sabina Park.
Man-of-the-match Smith helped his team reach a competitive total of
241 for nine with his innings of 32 in just 15 balls, including two
towering sixes.
He then turned the match once more with the ball when he claimed
three for 36 from his 10 overs. Pakistan were bowled out for 187.
Smith began his international career in sparkling style with a
century on his Test debut in South Africa but over the three years since
he has been inconsistent.
Lara urged the 23-year-old Smith to build on his latest show of
potential rather than dwell on his success.
“Dwayne played really well today,” Lara told reporters after the
match. “At one time before he went out to bat we were looking at 225, I
told him that.
“For him to score in excess of 30 in 15 balls, hitting the ball out
of the park and cleanly was very, very good for us.
“(Then) Coming on to bowl after Daren Powell, after we had stifled
the run rate in the early overs, you expect them to pick up the run rate
from there. “But Dwayne came on and bowled well and got the wickets of
Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf — their two best players.
“His performance today was excellent and he knows that and from here
what he wants to do is build on it, not just sit back and think I’ve
started well and that’s it.
“We’ve hopefully got 10 or 11 games in the tournament and he is
looking for a performance like that every time.” Smith admitted that he
has had trouble with consistency and said that he would continue to work
hard to keep churning out these kind of performances.
West Indies’ next match is against Zimbabwe on Monday.
KINGSTON: Jamaica, Wednesday (Reuters)
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