West Indies captain Clive Lloyd was full of confidence as his team arrived in Bloemfontein to face the Rest of the World in their opening match of the Decades tournament. After winning the toss he elected to bat on a pitch that looked to have good pace and bounce.
The Rest of the World pace bowlers thrived in good conditions, and quickly reduced the West Indies to 68-4 as Clive Lloyd was trapped LBW to Clive Rice. The man of the match from Hobart was brilliant, taking 6 for 56 as the West Indies limped to 171 all out. Wicket keeper Deryck Murray top scored with 41 not out.
The West Indies quickly showed why this team was so strong though and they tore into the World XI batting lineup. ROW were 15 for 3 at the close of play on day one after a torrid spell from Roberts and Holding. They continued into day 2 with Roberts taking 6 for 49 and Holding 2 for 43. Only Majid Khan put up any real resistance, hitting 54 and batting well with the tail as they managed to get to within 28 of the West Indies total.
Clive Lloyds men batted better in the 2nd innings. Lawrence Rowe was the star of the innings, hitting a beautiful yet dogged 129. Lloyd himself smashed a belligerent 61 and put on a stand of 91 with Rowe to help West Indies recover from 54 for 3. They were bowled out for 367, setting the Rest of the World 396 to win with just over 2 days remaining in the test.
Roberts and Holding tore through the top of the ROW batting lineup once again, as they slumped to 10 for 3 near the close of day 3. Zaheer Abbas made a brilliant counter attacking 80 to give ROW some hope. He was forced to retire hurt however, after suffering a broken hand from a Roberts bouncer. The World XI batters fought hard but couldn't match the pace or bounce being generated by the West Indian quicks. They were 226 all out late on day 4 to give the West Indies a 169 run win.
Rowe deserved man of the match for his innings on a pitch where batsmen had struggled for most of the game. Clive Lloyds men now head home for the final match of this group. They will face the Australians, who must win in order to qualify for the next phase of the tournament.
Rest of the World 1970s: SM Gavaskar; GM Turner; Zaheer Abbas; Majid Khan; AW Greig [c]; CEB Rice; APE Knott [w]; GS Le Roux; JA Snow; DL Underwood; BS Bedi
West Indies 1970s: RC Fredericks; CA Davis; AI Kallicharran; LG Rowe; CH Lloyd [c]; BD Julian; DL Murray [w]; AME Roberts; MA Holding; CEH Croft; WW Daniel
West Indies 1970s 1st Innings 171-10 (74.2 Ov)
DL Murray 41*, CA Davis 38, CEB Rice 6-56, GS Le Roux 2-24
Rest of the World 1970s 1st Innings 143-10 (53.1 Ov)
Majid Khan 54, JA Snow 30, AME Roberts 6-49, CEH Croft 2-15, MA Holding 2-43
West Indies 1970s 2nd Innings 367-10 (104.2 Ov)
LG Rowe 129, CH Lloyd 61, BD Julian 43, CEB Rice 4-106, AW Greig 3-69, GS Le Roux 2-61
Rest of the World 1970s 2nd Innings 226-9 (79.2 Ov)
Zaheer Abbas 80*, CEB Rice 40, APE Knott 39, MA Holding 4-34, AME Roberts 2-29, CEH Croft 2-36
West Indies 1970s win by 169 runs
Man of the Match: LG Rowe
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