Magical Lara revives Windies

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS: Another batting masterpiece from Brian Lara helped the West Indies to a respectable total of 292 for seven wickets at stumps on day one of the third Digicel Test against South Africa at Bridgetown. Lara, who made his 28th Test century, showed once again how indispensable he is to the West Indies cause with his knock which was made in the customary brisk fashion. When he struck Andre Nel through the covers for four to bring up his 150 it had come off 204 balls, but the Trinidadian had no intention of resting his laurels.

The arrival of the second new-ball merely prompted Lara to step up the pace with a savage assault on Makhaya Ntini and Nel. However, shortly before the end of the session, Lara was finally lured into a false stroke by Nel as he chopped the ball onto his own stumps. He had made 176 off 224 balls  and only the late Sir Don Bradman, Steve Waugh and Indian pair Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar have reached three figures more often than Lara in the five-day game after the latest epic in a career which includes two world-record Test scores of 375 and 400 not out, both made against England.

This knock by Lara came on the heels of an equally magnificent 196 in the second Digicel Test in Trinidad. In the evening session Lara was well supported by Dwayne Bravo, who made a more patient 26 but was out shortly after Lara when he edged Monde Zondeki to Graeme Smith at slip. Courtney Browne and Daren Powell had both made three at stumps, with Fidel Edwards and Reon King still to bat for the hosts who are looking to square the series. Nel was the pick of the Proteas bowlers with figures of three of 54 off his 20 overs.

Ryan Hinds was the first batsman out after tea when he edged Jacques Kallis to Mark Boucher, with the wicketkeeper taking his third catch of the innings. Lara had once again come to the rescue of his side in a fourth-wicket partnership with skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul which yielded 138 runs. The two came together with the Windies in a precarious and embarrassing position of 12 for three. Together, captain and former captain steered the Windies through to lunch and beyond. Chanderpaul’s was the only wicket to fall in the afternoon session as he clipped a Zondeki delivery to Boucher after making 53.

Until Lara and Chanderpaul dug in, it had looked ominous for the West Indies who had a torrid opening hour. The first player to depart was opener Chris Gayle whose horrid season with the bat continued when he edged a slanting ball from Nel to Boucher before he had managed to trouble the scorers. Gayle was quickly joined in the pavilion by his fellow opener Wavell Hinds, who nicked Ntini to Proteas captain Smith at slip. Hinds (W), a double-centurion in the opening Test, had managed to contribute only a single before falling to Ntini who took 13 wickets in the second Test win at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain.

Before a run had been added, the tourists captured their third scalp of the morning. The third wicket to fall was that of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who mistimed his shot off the bowling of Nel and spooned the ball to Ashwell Prince. South Africa lead the series after their victory in the second Test and could afford to keep Shaun Pollock out of the fray. Pollock, who missed the first two Tests through injury, has now arrived in the Caribbean but is being kept back presumably for the fourth Test and the One Dayers.