DURBAN: Shivnarine Chanderpaul tuned up for Saturday's third Test against South Africa with an impressive century innings as the touring West Indian cricketers dominated the second day of the four-day match against South Africa A at Pietermaritzburg yesterday.
When bad light and then rain stopped play mid-way the day's play at 2:02, the tourists, who were struggling at 48 for three when Chanderpaul joined the action on the previous afternoon, were 256 for six off 83 overs with the Guyanese left-hander not out on 132 after batting for 255 minutes, facing 212 deliveries, blasting one six and stroking 20 fours.
The other not out batsman was Rawl Lewis on four.
Resuming on 27 after batting for 56 minutes, facing 53 deliveries and helping himself to five boundaries on the shortened first day, Chanderpaul eased to the first 50 of his innings with the additional 23 runs, including four boundaries, coming in 47 minutes off 38 deliveries, ticked off the second 50 in 98 minutes with one six and six fours off 73 deliveries, and the remaining 32, including five more boundaries, in 54 minutes off 48 deliveries.
With the Windes batting being criticised around the country as dull, irresponsible, and lacking in quality, Chanderpaul polished its image during a quality performance in which he flogged the bowlers, including the top-rated pacer Lance Klusener, to all parts of the ground with a mixture of delicate and punishing strokes.
After starting the day by clipping Klusener off his legs to the backward square-leg boundary and driving left-arm pacer Charl Willoughby off the backfoot to the cover boundary, Chanderpaul went around the compass and entertained the gathering with superb strokes off the backfoot and off the front foot.
The innings, on a slow pitch, was, however, highlighted by Chanderpaul's drives off the front-foot, and the handclaps echoed around the small ground, not only when he drove Klusener to the square-leg boundary - all along the ground, not only when he raced into the 80s with three in one over from pacer Makhaya Ntini - one to square-leg, one to cover, and one over wide long-on for six, but also, just before the darkness intervened, when, in the space of four deliveries, he drove Willoughby through extra-cover, through midwicket, and then to the right of point.
In pulling the innings around, Chanderpaul was ably assisted by Darren Ganga, who scored 21, and Junior Murray, who scored 45.
Resuming on six with the tourists on 77 for three, Ganga shared an important fourth-wicket partnership of 71 (29 overnight) in 30 overs with Chanderpaul before, after batting for a total of 124 minutes, facing 87 deliveries and find the boundary three times, he went forward then back to Klusener, edged the ball as it bounced and left him off the pitch, and was caught by Sven Koenig at third slip at 119 for four.
Murray, despite chances at 30 when he plodded forward to left-arm spinner Paul Adams and was dropped by Martin Van Jaarneld at silly-point, and at 34 when he drove Justin Kemp into the covers and was dropped by substitute Victor Mpitsang, shared a sixth-wicket stand of 108, also in 30 overs, with Chanderpaul before, after a lovely pull through midwicket off Kemp, he attempted to drive the medium-pacer off the backfoot, edged a catch to Adams at gully, and went away at 227 for six after batting for 116 minutes, facing 85 deliveries and hitting seven boundaries - including a lovely front-foot drive through extra-cover off Adams.
The disappointment for the tourists was the first ball leg-before wicket dismissal of Floyd at 119 for five.
After sitting in the pavilion and watching Klusener - three wickets for 47 runs off 19 overs - swinging and cutting the ball away from the right-handers and into the left-handers, the left-handed Reifer went out, shouldered arms to a delivery pitched inches outside the offstump, and was on his way when umpire Wilf Diedricks lifted is finger in response to a loud and confident appeal.
Day 3: West Indies selectors get more reasons to smile
Rose - bowled well
PIETERMARITZBURG - The West Indies tour selectors who have been knocking heads together for the past few days as they contemplate the team for the vital third Test against South Africa starting Saturday, had three more reasons to smile during today's third day of the tour match against South Africa A at Pietermaritzburg.
Following on Shivnarine Chanderpaul's century innings which was extended from 132 not out overnight to 182 before he was last man out to end the tourists' first innings at 375, fast bowlers Mervyn Dillon, Franklyn Rose and Nixon McLean bowled well, so too did right-arm legspinner Rawl Lewis.
And to cap a day which must have encouraged captain Brian Lara, South Africa's batsmen in waiting were far from confident against the spin of Lewis and offspinner Carl Hooper, as the home team reached 188 for four off 75 overs at stumps.
With the prospect of another 'green top' at Kingsmead following the carpet of grass at St. George's Park when they lost by 178 runs inside three days and dropped to two down out of two, the tourists, despite the disappointing performance of their support fast bowlers in that rout and the temptation to recall Lewis, have been thinking of pace, and but for Carl Hooper's offspinners, nothing but pace.
Nothing but pace would mean that two from Dillon, Rose, and McLean would be selected to support veterans Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, and the trio bowled so well at the start of the home team's innings today, it appeared that the selectors' only problem would be which two.
Against the Kwaza-Zulu Natal Invitational XI at Chatsworth a few days ago, they bowled fast.
Inspired probably by Chanderpaul's brilliance which, in total lasted for 382 minutes and 302 deliveries during which he smashed one six and stroked 26 fours before he was bowled by left-arm pacer Charl Willoughby, Dillon, Rose, and McLean bowled so well that coach Malcolm Marshall could not resist a smile as he looked on from the pavilion.
After weeks of ignoring coach Marshall's plea to ``pitch it up'', Rose - eight overs, three maidens, 19 runs, McLean - seven, zero, 18, and Dillon - nine, five, six and one wicket - pitched the ball up, bowled a good line and with Rose and McLean slipping in a few well-pitched bouncers in between, forced the batsmen to play at almost every delivery.
In a performance which deserved more than that, they finished with only one wicket between them. The scoreboard, however, did not reflect how many times they beat the bat, the number of times they missed the outside edge of the bat, and the many appeals for leg before wicket.
At that stage, the bowling places, as far as going in with four pacers or with three and one specialist spinner, appeared settled. By the end of the day however, Lewis had the selectors thinking again.
In two spells, one from the north, one from the south, and broken by only one over when he changed ends with Hooper, Lewis bowled 24 overs, picked up two wickets for 65 runs and like the fast bowlers, based on the number of times he beat the batsmen, the many times he hit the pad, with a little luck he could have finished with a couple more.
Day 4: Windies in tame draw
DURBAN - The touring West Indian cricketers ended their four-day match against South Africa A at Pietermaritzburg yesterday in almost the same position in which they started it.
When bad light, as usual, ended the proceedings two deliveries after tea it was, as expected, a tame draw with the final score reading the West Indians 375 and 95 for three with Floyd Reifer on eight and Junior Murray on 11, South Africa 293.
What was unexpected was that the composition of the West Indies team for the third Test starting on Saturday was still unsettled certainly as far as the attack is concerned.
After the promise of the first three days during which Shivnarine Chanderpaul batted brilliantly during a stroke-filled innings of 182, Darren Ganga produced a solid effort, Junior Murray stroked the ball nicely and second-string fast bowlers Mervyn Dillon, Franklyn Rose and Nixon McLean bowled impressively, the West Indians were back to normal yesterday - their selectors still pondering who they should call on to support Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.
Up against the bottom of the half of the A team's batting after offspinner Carl Hooper had bowled Martin Van Jaarsveld for 44 at 207 for five shortly after the start of the day's play, the bowlers but for a few good overs with the second new ball by McLean, bowled badly and the batsmen, but for a few punishing strokes by Clayton Lambert, who scored 32, and a couple of handsome drives by Ganga, who scored 33, were no better.
Unlike the previous day when he got the ball to spin and bounce, right-arm legspinner Rawl Lewis was flat and ineffective and, in contrast to the efforts at the start of the innings when they pitched the ball up and bowled straight on the stumps, Rose and McLean bowled far too short and far too wide of offstump.
On a pitch on which the ball was keeping low, and despite the blessing of a new, hard ball between their fingers after Hooper had taken the second new ball at 233 for five after 94 overs, it took them 50 minutes and 11.3 overs to pick up the home team's last wicket as number nine Paul Adams and number 11 Charl Willoughby slashed over slip, pulled to midwicket and top-edged attempted hooks to long-leg.
It was ordinary, unintelligent bowling by two bowlers seeking a place in the third Test - so much that by the time Adams swung at a delivery of reasonable length from Rose and was caught by Lewis at deep mid-off, there were, to two tail-enders who smiled each time they hit the ball, fielders stationed at thirdman, point almost on the boundary, deep mid-off, long-on, midwicket on the boundary and backward square-leg, also on the boundary.
It was especially poor bowling against the left-handed Willoughby who not only showed them all three stumps, but also backed away, some times to way outside the legstump, as the bowler reached the stumps.
In all of that, Dillon, who bowled nine overs, conceded only six runs, and took one wicket on the previous day, did not bowl a single delivery on a day when spinners Hooper and Lewis bowled 10 and nine respectively and Rose 11.3 and McLean 11.
If the bowling of Lewis, Rose and McLean was not enough to make the other West Indians shiver, the manner in which Stuart Williams was dismissed and in which Ganga was almost dismissed certainly did.
Williams scored only four runs in the first innings when he steered pacer Lance Klusener to gully. Yesterday he decided not to play - not to a ball pitched outside his stumps, but to one pitched on or about middle and leg.
With his score on nine and the total 13 in the second over, Williams shouldered arms against left-arm pacer Willoughby and was plumb leg before wicket.
It was almost two in two for Willoughby as Ganga, batting at number three, left alone his first delivery, also pitched in line with the stumps and was lucky when umpire Wilf Diedricks shook his head in response to the shout for leg before wicket.
The good news yesterday was that opening batsman Philo Wallace, who was forced to drop out of the second Test due to illness, is recovering well and is almost sure to be in action on Saturday.
``Unless something drastically happens between now and then he will be in the team,'' said coach Malcolm Marshall at the post-match press conference.