Ganga: WI will save Test

HEROIC Daren Ganga warmed the hearts of all West Indian supporters with a masterful century which helped West Indies restore respectability and avoided the follow-on against the touring Australians in the Second Cable and Wireless Test match at the Queen’s Park Oval yesterday.

Ganga’s inspirational Second Test century of 117 ( one six and 17 fours) was a back to back effort after he posted 113 in the second innings of the First Test at Bourda. And he became the fifth Trinidadian and twenty fourth West Indian to score a century at this famous venue. Jeffrey Stollmeyer, Andy Gantaume, Charlie Davis and Hilary Gomes are the other Trinidadians to achieve the feat but Ganga became the first to register the coveted triple-figure mark against Australia. The 24-year-old West Indies B team captain showed great maturity and responsibility in holding the Auusies at bay.

He joined Clyde Walcott, Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Alvin Kallicharran and Jeffrey Dujon to score a hundred against the Aussies at the Oval. His brilliant innings was the cornerstone for West Indies 408 runs,  in reply to Australia’s first innings total of 576. He had shared in two valuable wicket partnerships, 158-run for the third wicket with skipper Brian Lara (91) and 75 for the fourth wicket with newly-appointed vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan (26). Reflecting on his significant contribution and getting a hundred in his first outing at the Oval and before his native fans, the technically-correct Ganga savoured the historic milestone and said: “I got a hundred in Guyana and felt very comfortable coming into this match. I got a start and carried on. And to get this century at home is special, especially because it helped the team to save the follow-on.”

“After the match in Guyana, I knew what to expect from their spinners as well as the fast bowlers. Although the conditions are different, I know my ability and have matured with the exposure gained on the away series. I had a good regional series and form continued into the Test matches. I feel much more confident playing aggressively. There has been the transformation into bigger scores.” Ganga was upbeat and feels that West Indies will get whatever target Australia will set West Indies in the second innings. But he realises that all the players will have to lift their overall performances to restrict the Aussies to a smaller second innings total and also to reduce the amount of time available.  He also complimented his team-mates for the fight back and stressed that: “The guys showed a lot of grit and determination in getting  us in this position. There is still a lot of work to be done and we are prepared to fight to the end. We have the players with the ability and capability to win the match if given a gettable target on the last day.”