Smith’s 132, Gayle injury hurt Windies

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s top-order batting —  led by their captain Graeme Smith — administered the insult, while Chris Gayle sustained the injury that left the West Indies labouring after the first day of the first cricket Test yesterday. Having vowed to rise to the occasion in his first home Test as the country’s leader, Smith delivered with a typically forceful innings of 132. He provided the solid foundation with opening partner Herschelle Gibbs (60) that was built on by the fourth-wicket pair of Jacques Kallis and Martin van Jaarsveld in lifting the home team to an impressive 368 for three at stumps on a long, hot day for the visitors at the new Wanderers Stadium. Kallis resumes on the second morning on 87 with van Jaarsveld on 69, already his highest Test score in his fourth match, the pair having established a new South African Test record for the fourth wicket at this ground. They have so far added 128 runs against a tiring attack that struggled to find the necessary consistency and desire even with the advent of the second new ball late in the day.

The mood was already soured with the sight of Gayle being helped off the field after sustaining what appeared to be a serious left hamstring injury as he chased a ball to the boundary half-an-hour after lunch. Having already lost three key players to injuries a week into the South African campaign, the sight of the big left-handed opener grimacing in pain while lying face down on the outfield would have dented the spirits of even the most ardent West Indian supporter. Ricky Skerritt later issued a statement advising that Gayle had suffered a strained hamstring and was being treated by a specialist. According to the team manager, he is not expected to take the field for the rest of the South African first innings, but will bat with a runner. That potentially debilitating setback came nearing the end of a 149-run partnership that instantly wrested away whatever initiative the visitors had hoped to gain after Smith had chosen to bat first. Their stand, the first of over 100 by any opening pair in Tests between South Africa and the West Indies, was made easier by bowling that lacked the necessary discipline against high quality opponents.

“It was really hot today and they kept running in,” said Smith in reflecting on the performance of the opposing bowlers at the end of the day’ s play. “(Mervyn) Dillon is probably the hardest guy to score off and Vasbert (Drakes) is quite accurate, but otherwise I think the other guys bowled too many four balls.” The powerfully built, left-hander and his ultra-aggressive opening partner were ideally equipped to capitalise on those loose deliveries, racing to 96 by the lunch interval. Fidel Edwards, sharing the new ball with Dillon, generated tremendous pace, but lacked the direction to be a real threat while Corey Collymore looked a shadow of the bowler who decimated Sri Lanka in the Caribbean six months ago, conceding 88 runs in 17 overs. Yet, it was the same bowler who finally claimed the first wicket of the match, bowling Gibbs with a delivery that television replays showed should have been called as a no-ball. Jacques Rudolph fell for just two, being well taken by Brian Lara moving low to his left at second slip off Drakes. In taking two wickets for 11 runs, the West Indies captain would have been hopeful that his bowlers were well on their way to redressing the balance.

But Lara did not help their cause when he missed Smith at leg-slip off Ramnaresh Sarwan’s occasional leg-spin in the final delivery before tea.
The South African captain had already reached his fifth Test century in 225 minutes with 17 fours when he offered the chance, and prospered by another 22 runs before Lara made amends for the earlier lapse, on this occasion at first slip, as he chased a delivery from Edwards. Van Jaarsveld just survived a searing yorker in the same over, but then grew in confidence alongside the solid Kallis. The occasional half volleys and wayward deliveries offered the pair regular opportunities to keep the score rolling along at over four runs-per-over, paving the way for van Jaarsveld to register his maiden Test half-century and look towards even greater deeds on the second day in partnership with Kallis, who has immediately renewed his love affair with West Indian bowlers.