Cricket: Lambert propels tourists to first win

THE WEST INDIES recorded the first victory of their South African tour when they beat a Natal XI by eight wickets in a one-day game yesterday. After dismissing the home side for a modest 120, the tourists scored 123 for 2 in just 25.3 overs.

The openers Clayton Lambert and Junior Murray did the bulk of the damage with an opening stand of 100 before Lambert was bowled by Desigan Reddy for 58, which came off 63 deliveries and included five fours and four sixes. Murray finished with 46 not out, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit Reddy for six over long-off to win the match. Reddy, a medium-pacer who was hit for 18 in his first over, finished with 2 for 34 off 3.3 overs.

Franklyn Rose put the West Indies on track for victory when he took 3 for 21 in an unbroken spell of 10 overs after overnight rain had delayed the start of play for 50 minutes. Rose's new-ball partner, Nixon McLean, gave him solid support, taking 3 for 25.

The tourists failed to win any of their first seven games and lost both Test matches, in neither of which Rose was selected. He dismissed opener Keith Forde, Jonty Rhodes and Mehmood Badat in a performance that will have impressed before the third Test, which starts in Durban on 26 December.

In Faisalabad, Pakistan are likely to include three spinners for the third and final Test against Zimbabwe which begins today.

Zimbabwe, who won the first Test in Peshawar, need a draw to win their first series abroad and Pakistan have prepared a spinners' pitch to try to avoid a repeat of their 1-0 series defeat by Australia in October. A bare, grassless strip at Faisalabad's Iqbal Stadium offers a contrasting sight to the lush outfield.