Windies (342/4) in strong position

BLOEMFONTEIN: Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit a century and three others completed half-centuries to put West Indies in a strong position against Free State in their four-day, First-Class cricket tour match yesterday.

Chanderpaul was undefeated on 111 and helped West Indies to reach 342 for four when stumps were drawn on the opening day at Goodyear Park. Ridley Jacobs was unbeaten on 66, while captain Brian Lara hit 72 and Ramnaresh Sarwan scored 51. For Chanderpaul, it was a welcomed sign that he may just be running into the kind of form and confidence that was absent in the international matches on the preceding tour of Zimbabwe. The left-hander has so far batted over three hours, faced 160 balls and struck 16 boundaries. He and Lara added 67 for the fourth wicket, and he then shared 145, unbroken, for the fifth wicket that spared West Indies some blushes after they had slipped to 197 for four in the final hour before tea.

After choosing to bat, West Indies lost Chris Gayle in the third over, leg before wicket to Cliff Deacon for nine, and fellow opening batsman Daren Ganga was caught behind off Ryan McLaren for 19 from 62 balls to leave the visitors 54 for two. Sarwan, himself looking for form and confidence, and Lara carried West Indies to lunch at 110 for two. They had added 76 for the third wicket when Sarwan, who had batted for two hours and struck eight fours, edged his 102 nd ball to be caught behind off Deacon. Lara continued to dominate the bowling and again looked in commanding form during his partnership with Chanderpaul before being caught in the deep hitting out against McLaren. He batted just over two hours, faced 110 balls and struck ten fours and one six.

Chanderpaul and Jacobs had few alarms in carrying West Indies through to stumps and will be looking to press home the visitors’ advantage when play resumes today. McLaren has taken two wickets for 46 runs from overs and Deacon two for 69 from 16 overs to lead the bowling for the Free State, who rested their more recognised players and gave First-Class debuts to Graham Botha and Dillon du Preez. The match is West Indies’ final dress rehearsal before the opening Test of four against South Africa, starting on Friday at the new Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.