West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin going through a catching drill with assistant coach David Moore. (Picture by Gordon Brooks.)

by HAYDN GILL in Jamaica

THE EVENTS of the past few days have demonstrated there are no predictable results in Cricket World Cup 2007.

As West Indies prepare to face Zimbabwe at Sabina Park today, they would have sat back and taken note of what Ireland did to Pakistan and what Bangladesh did to India on Saturday.

The shock results have thrown the notion through the window that the majority of group stage matches were going to be predictable with results in favour of the eight leading international nations against the fledgling countries.

Against that background, West Indies captain Brian Lara is not under-estimating either Zimbabwe or Ireland.

"It's going to be very competitive. Zimbabwe and Ireland have shown they cannot be taken lightly," Lara said yesterday.

"We're going to play the game with the same gusto like we had against Pakistan. A win tomorrow [today] will put us into the second stage, but it doesn't mean we have any points as yet.

"We've got a very important two games left and we're going to take each game one at a time."

After West Indies' victory over Pakistan by 54 runs on Tuesday, they had almost a week off to rest, recuperate, reflect, refine and review results of other matches.

They would have followed closely when Ireland forged a dramatic tie against Zimbabwe and when they stunned Pakistan to send the former champions crashing out of the competition.

Thrown up surprises

"The tournament has thrown up a couple surprises already. The so-called minnows are giving a good account of themselves," Lara said.

"Our win against Pakistan was nullified with the defeat yesterday. We've just got to play the next two games pretty tough.

"I'm almost sure that Zimbabwe and Ireland are going to be looking us over and seeing where our weaknesses lie."

West Indies practised at the Kensington Club ground in east Kingston yesterday afternoon on a day when the dramatic events off the field commanded the centre of attention.

The sudden death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, the contract dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association, the reaction in Pakistan and India to their shock defeats and the sacking of Andrew Flintoff as England vice-captain made for a day of news.

Be that as it may, West Indies players remained focused in preparation for the match against Zimbabwe.

Last night, their team meeting was more than likely to spend a few minutes discussing the state of the Sabina Park pitch which turned out to be a bowler's dream on Saturday when Ireland restricted Pakistan to 132.

"It's very difficult in the first hour or so. Laying a foundation, not necessarily in terms of runs, but in terms of losing as little wickets as possible is important," Lara said.

"We're not sure what we're going to expect. The pitch yesterday [Saturday] looked a lot more dicey than the one we played on.

"In the Caribbean, it's always very difficult in the first hour, especially if it's a fresh pitch."

*haydngill@nationnews.com