JUST NOW: West Indies rally with their heart and soul, even as night turns sour but the do not w..
The first sign was the traffic, converging from all corners of the island.
From Hodges Bay and Cedar Grove in the north. From Freetown in the east. From English Harbour and Liberta in the south and from the west, Jennings and Jolly Harbour.
And, of course, from the capital, St. Johns.
Bumper to bumper they rolled in, filling the car parks and spilling out onto the spiderweb of roads that feed in to the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, a ground that sits apart from the surrounding parishes, enclosed by swathes of vacant land. The floodlights were visible for miles in the inky sky; beacons that summoned the people of Antigua.
They answered in their droves; they were here to rally.
When giant flags were unfurled on the field to usher in the anthems, the roar could be felt as well as heard. They were waving Antigua flags, they were wearing West Indies shirts. One man stood near the fence at the northern end of the ground wearing a white t-shirt with black writing across the back: silence is loud.
in his eyes as Rudder’s clear voice filled the night. Around the ground they stood, some swaying, some with hands raised, some with eyes closed; all of them singing.
Now and forever.
The first jarring note struck with the third ball of the match, when Shai Hope sliced a Marco Jansen ball to cover point. After the emotional build-up, it was as if a guitar string had snapped mid strum. A collective intake of breath followed by a unified exhale of disappointment. But still, rally. Hope was lost but not all hope was lost.
Pretty soon the runs are going to flow like water.
But this was not a pitch for flowing runs, it was tacky and turning and made for Aiden Markram. Nicholas Pooran tried to pump him over extra cover but it was straight into the wind, dropping kindly for Jansen at long off. West Indies had lost two wickets in seven balls and the silence was not loud, it was deafening.
But there was resilience and resistance from Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers, bringing joy to every son and daughter in the ground, until Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj subdued the crowd once more with a clattering of wickets.
Still, if there was one man who could spark the flames, it was Andre Russell. Every muscle rippled as Dre Russ took on Anrich Nortje, smiting him over long-on and deep midwicket for back-to-back sixes like a raging fire.
The first ball of the following over, Russell was at the non-striker’s end as Akeal Hossein pushed a Kagiso Rabada ball to Nortje, fielding at short third. He was desperate to get on strike and continue the assault and set off for the tightest of singles. Too tight for Nortje’s dead-eye arm with the direct hit. Russell fell to his hands and knees. As the third umpire reviewed the replay, Russell stayed there, motionless, staring at the ground. He knew what the decision would be.
