Cricket World® Player Of The Week - Shiv Chanderpaul
©Action Images / Jason Cairnduff
The first match looked for all the world like it was going Sri Lanka's way before Chanderpaul, who finished unbeaten on 62, needing 10 to win from two balls, smashed Chaminda Vaas for a four and then a six to seal a thrilling victory.
The second match, also in Trinidad, saw the match reduced to 25 overs and in pursuit of 125 to win, West Indies were reduced to 18 for three. Chanderpaul promptly launched a counter-attack, along with Marlon Samuels, and in a flash, the game was turned on its head as he and Samuels both hit half-centuries in an unbroken century stand to bring the game home.
Chanderpaul has for some time now been the West Indies outstanding batsman, particularly with the absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan and a dip in form for Chris Gayle, but only now is his solidity in the middle order being backed up by the team which is gradually rediscovering its winning feeling.
He was a unanimous choice for the award this week, and will be looking for another performance in the final match and will play a key role against Australia later in the year before again representing Durham in the English summer.
Other players in contention included Harbhajan Singh, Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman for their roles in India's three-day win over South Africa and Pakistani Salman Butt for his century in the One Day International victory over Bangladesh.
The Cricket World ® Player Of The Week is judged by the www.cricketworld.com Editorial Team, which takes into consideration matches played in the preceding week with the final decision made on Monday morning.
Users are welcome to discuss the award and put forward contenders for each week's award on our forum, to do so, click
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