Lara, Prince of Port-of-Spain reigns

MULTIPLE world record holder Brian Lara, the Prince of Port-of-Spain,  reigned supreme at the Queen’s Park Oval yesterday, hitting a classic unbeaten 159 to steer West Indies to 281 for six wickets on opening day of the second Digicel Test against South Africa. His 27th Test century knock saw him eclipse Sir Gary Sobers record of 26 centuries. Lara, always a player for the big occasion, was making a return to the West Indies team after missing the first Test at Bourda, Guyana, during a contractural dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board. He reminded cricket lovers and critics alike of his mental powers and wondrous strokeplay, hitting 20 fours off the 236 balls he received.

Lara delighted the Oval crowd with his finesse and controlled placements on a day of  mixed fortunes for West indies. After skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul won the toss and decided to bat, West Indies were in quick trouble losing Chris Gayle with the score on seven and Ramnaresh Sarwan on 13. But Lara and Wavell Hinds with a dour 32, defied the Proteas in a 95-run third wicket partnership which gave the West Indies total some semblance of respectability. On Hinds departure, Chanderpaul (35) joined Lara to post another 95-run stand for the fourth wicket. Lara treated his ardent home fans with superb strokes all around the wicket as he raced to his second century at the Oval and third against South Africa.

The 35-year-old master batsman in his 113th Test and 198 innings, joins Australian Allan Border (156 Tests, 265 innings) on 27 Test centuries, good enough for fifth  behind Sunil Gavaskar (125 Tests, 214 innings) Indian compatriot Sachin Tendulkar (123 Tests, 198 innings) on 34 each, Australian’s Steve Waugh (168 Tests, 260 innings) 32 centuries and the late Sir Donald Bradman fourth on 28 scored in a just 52 Tests and 80 innings. The Proteas made two changes to their team, bringing in specialist batsman Ashwell Prince for all rounder Andrew Hall and medium pacer Monde Zondeki for Charl Langeveldt. Gayle was the first West Indies wicket to fall, attempting to pull Makhaya Ntini only to see the ball sky high for wicketkeeper Mark Boucher to accept the catch gleefully. And Sarwan perished shortly after, hooking at the same bowler to be caught by Andre Nel, stationed at the long leg boundary. But Hinds restrained his natural attacking strokeplay to give Lara valuable support, before losing patience.

Chanderpaul received a rousing reception from the appreciative 6,000-odd spectators when he came out to join Lara who walked down the pitch to greet his skipper and bounced gloves. This pair saw the West Indies to tea, taken at 2.15 pm because of a short, sharp shower, on 140 for three wickets. But just when it appeared they had collared the South African bowling, Chanderpaul was out with the score on 203. West Indies lost two more wickets in quick succession, newcomer Donovan Pagon for duck and Dwayne Bravo for five, but Lara found another defiant partner in vice captain Courtney Browne who was unbeaten on 19 at the close in a seventh-wicket partnership worth 56 runs so far. Yesterday’s century saw Lara also surpass Gavaskar’s Test aggregate of 10,122 runs and Tendulkar’s overall tally of 10,134 when he reached 29 and 41, and leaves him third behind Allan Border (11, 174 runs) and Steve Waugh (10,927).