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.
(China Daily via Agencies March 15, 2007)