Records tumble as match ends in draw

West Indies completed its first innings at 747, with a 159-run lead. Then captain Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar steered South Africa safely to 127-1 when the two skippers shook hands and the match was ended.

Dwayne Bravo hit a record eighth century of the match and West Indies made the sixth-highest total ever. When South Africa ended at 127-1, Graeme Smith was 50 not out and Boeta Dippenaar, 56 not out.

Bravo completed his maiden Test ton, following Shivnarine Chanderpaul into three figures on the final day. Wicket-keeper Mark Boucher was one of 11 bowlers used, and had Bravo caught for 107, West Indies finishing on 747.

West Indies’ total of 747 has only been bettered five times in Tests but was 205 away from the highest ever. Chanderpaul was one of two wickets to fall in the morning, run out for 127, but the hosts forged on.

As the match became more light-hearted, Makhaya Ntini celebrated his century — of runs conceded — by raising his cap in the air. And by mid-afternoon Boucher, with some neat medium-pacers, was one of four players new to bowling at this level.

Bravo drove Ntini for four to take West Indies past South Africa’s first innings 588 in the middle of a morning session extended by half an hour because of rain on the first day. Despite the inevitability of the result on the most placid of pitches, Chanderpaul’s celebrations of his 13th Test ton were far from low-key.

He sank to his knees and kissed the turf after scoring his third century at this venue and his third against South Africa. But he was denied the chance to build by a brilliant throw from Shaun Pollock at deep midwicket as he looked for a third.

Bravo had to depend upon last man Dwight Washington so that he and the match could enter the history books. After AB de Villiers removed Daren Powell for 12 and Tino Best for five, Washington defied the South African attack for close to an hour. Twice South Africa came close to denying Bravo.

First, they thought they had Washington caught behind off Monde Zondeki before he had scored, but umpire Billy Bowden ruled the ball had brushed the batsman’s forearm. Then Bravo, on 94, played a delivery from Zondeki straight to point fielder Boeta Dippenaar, who missed a chance to run out Washington at the wicket-keeper’s end.

Substitute fielder Jacques Rudolph at mid-wicket failed to hold a chance off Dippenaar, but Boucher finally brought an increasingly surreal innings to an end.

On three occasions in the past — the most recent occasion featuring these two sides at Cape Town last year — there have been seven individual centuries scored in a single Test, but never eight.

Somoe 31 overs remained as South Africa took strike, and there was time for Smith to pass 500 runs for the series, despite some bad tempered exchanges with the West Indies fielders.

Dippenaar also warmed up for the forthcoming one-day series with a half-century, including two straight sixes off Narsingh Deonarine. South Africa escaped the first test in Guyana with a draw, but won the second by eight wickets in Trinidad, and the third by an innings and 86 runs in Barbados to seal the series.

Speaking at the post match interview, Man of the Series Graeme Smith said retaining the Sir Viv Richards trophy was important for his side as they sought to rebuild after previous depressing performances, including the England and Australia series.

Man of the Match, Chris Gayle, reiterated that his sessions with Windies legend Sir Gary Sobers were instrumental in his 317 run performance. Windies skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul said while he was disappointed in losing the series — his first in charge — he would be taking some positives from the Windies performance into the upcoming five-game One Day series., the first of which starts on Saturday in Jamaica.