Guyana duo makes Windies smile

DURBAN: Courageous centuries by Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul gave West Indies something about which to smile, but they could not prevent South Africa from completing victory by an innings and 65 runs late on the fourth day of the second cricket Test at Kingsmead Stadium yesterday. The result, the Caribbean side’s 27th loss in 36 Tests away from home in the last six years, ensures the hosts retain the Vivian Richards Trophy with a 2-0 lead and only two matches to play. Brian Lara, however, has made a bold prediction in giving the assurance that his side will not be “white-washed” as they were five years. He will have to lift his side immediately if that forecast is to be fulfilled as the Third Test begins on Friday at Newlands in Cape Town.

Sarwan’s 114, his third Test hundred, and Chanderpaul’s 109, his ninth Test hundred, lifted the visitors to 329 before the end came in the second over of the additional half-hour that the umpires allowed when the ninth wicket fell almost on the stroke of the scheduled close. Makhaya Ntini, who had earlier ended Sarwan’s resistance in bowling him off the bottom-edge after tea, returned to have Chanderpaul dismissed to a stunning catch by Neil McKenzie at cover as he attempted to crash yet another boundary in a delightful innings. Granted the gift of an additional eight overs courtesy of that wicket, Ntini then had Fidel Edwards caught behind by Mark Boucher, who led the South Africans throughout the West Indies second innings with regular captain Graeme Smith receiving treatment for a thigh injury. Ntini finished with three wickets for 72 runs from 26 overs, lifting his match tally to eight and series haul to 17. He, however, shared the bowling honours on the day with Andre Nel, who ended with three for 68 from 18. Nel started the visitors’ woes having Wavell Hinds bowled between bat and pad after 25 minutes, and after the record sixth-wicket partnership between Sarwan and Chanderpaul, Nel claimed the wickets of Vasbert Drakes and Mervyn Dillon within the space of three deliveries to set up the final rites.

Coming to the crease after Hinds’ demise, Sarwan lost Daren Ganga to a leg before wicket decision in favour of Shaun Pollock from umpire Simon Taufel, although examination of the television replays showed the right-hander had gotten a faint inside-edge to the delivery. As Lara played with exaggerated care hoping to save his team in his 100th Test, Sarwan chanced his arm frequently, driving extravagantly to the delight of the few die-hard Caribbean fans among a crowd enjoying another day of unrelenting sunshine. Their mood changed to one of concern, however, when the vice-captain, on 29, ducked into a short ball from Ntini and a sickening blow under the lip of the helmet and behind the left ear left him prone on the pitch for a few minutes. Unlike in the World Cup match in Cape Town ten months earlier when Sri Lankan fast bowler Dilhara Fernando similarly floored him, Sarwan chose to bat on rather than leave the field for treatment. It seemed foolhardy in the circumstances, but his bravery was rewarded with rousing cheers when he reached the landmark with a straight drive off part-time leg-spinner Jacques Rudolph.

His 17th boundary was the fitting seal to more than four hours at the crease when he always looked in control, only to be eventually undone by Ntini’s delivery with the second new ball that skidded through to breach his defence. His effort was even more noteworthy after he lost Lara, who after 98 minutes and 71 deliveries of ultra-caution, turned an innocuous Andrew Hall delivery into the grateful hands of McKenzie at forward square-leg. His dismissal for 11 seemed the death-knell for West Indies — an opinion reinforced when Carlton Baugh and Ridley Jacobs gave catches to mid-off either side of the lunch interval. But Chanderpaul, batting with Ganga as a runner, ensured there was to be no meek surrender, lifting the West Indies from 130 for five in a partnership with Sarwan that underlined just what was possible if the top order had been able to better negotiate the tricky first morning in helpful bowling conditions.

Though hampered by a left thigh strain, Chanderpaul drove and pulled imperiously to his seventh Test century in two years, his 18th boundary off Nel — a top-edged hook over the ‘keeper — taking him to the coveted milestone. The partnership had reached 113 and the South Africans seemed resigned to being taken into the fifth day when Ntini made the breakthrough in removing Sarwan. Thereafter, the only question was whether the lower order would have been able to hang around long enough for Chanderpaul to reach three figures. He got solid support from Adam Sanford, who achieved a Test-best score for the second time in the match in finishing unbeaten on 18. But at the end of it all, it was the South Africans who wore the broader smiles, particularly “Man of the Match” Jacques Kallis, and despite Lara’s bravado, they will be brimming with confidence at the prospect of making it three wins in a row in Cape Town.

Kingsmead Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA VA WEST INDIES
West Indies 1st Innings 264
South Africa 1st Innings 658-9 declared
West Indies 2nd Innings
(Overnight 18-0)
W Hinds b Nel 11
D Ganga LBW b Pollock 12
R Sarwan b Ntini 114
B Lara c McKenzie b Hall 11
C Baugh c Ntini b Kallis 2
R Jacobs c Kirsten b Rudolph 15
S Chanderpaul c McKenzie b Ntini 109
V Drakes c Rudolph b Nel 4
M Dillon c Gibbs b Nel 0
A Sanford not out 18
F Edwards c Boucher b Ntini 5
EXTRAS (LB16, NB11, W1) 28
TOTAL (All out —- 113 overs) 329
Fall of wickets: 31, 32, 78, 95, 130, 243, 271, 271, 317.
BOWLING: Pollock 22-9-42-1 (NB9), Ntini 26-8-72-3, Nel 18-3-68-3 (NB1), Hall 13-3-20-1 (W1), Kallis 11-3-20-1, Rudolph 23-3-91-1 (NB1).
RESULT: South Africa won by an innings and 65 runs.
First Test: Johannesburg - South Africa won by 189 runs.
Third Test: Cape Town —- January 2-6.
Fourth Test: Centurion —- January 16-20.