They are the stars of the West Indies batting line-up, and for 116 runs on
Saturday they looked just that. Brian Lara and captain Carl Hooper's fifth
wicket stand brought a full house at the Kensington Oval to its feet and
helped the home side to within three runs of saving the follow-on in the
third test against South Africa.
At stumps the West Indies had reached 252-5
in their first innings, still trailing by 202, with
Hooper
still there on 74 and Ridley Jacobs 14 not out.
Lara (83) and Hooper's partnership was frequently spectacular, always
absorbing and absolutely crucial to the West Indies cause as they came
together on the fall of Ramnaresh Sarwan with the score 102-4. Lara mixed
extended spells of patience with periods when he was obviously looking to
get after the bowling.
The only chance he offered was on 21 when an edge off Shaun Pollock was
'caught' by Mark Boucher behind the stumps, but after Darryl Hair had called
for the third umpire Halley More's help, television pictures appeared to
show the ball touching the ground as it went into the 'keeper's gloves.
While Lara attacked at one end, Hooper was the more conservative until
suddenly coming to life. Three fours pulled to the mid-wicket fence off one
over from Makhaya Ntini took him within sight of his fourth half-century in
the series, which he duly reached after 17 balls on 49.
It was the pull shot that proved the end of Lara, Kallis getting one to
climb quickly and Lara, rather like Marlon Samuels before him, mis-timed the
shot to see the ball loop to Nicky Boje at wide mid-on. Lara looking so good
was gone for 83, made off 186 balls in four and three-quarter hours and
including 13 boundaries.
His departure made little if any impact on Hooper's fluency, the captain
looking once again in imperious form as he struck eleven boundaries from the
143 balls he faced.
Earlier, Sarwan spoiled a technically perfect and patient start with a
loose drive at Ntini, the ball flying straight to Herschelle Gibbs at
backward point. Sarwan struck three fine boundaries in his 16, made off 66
balls, but will be hugely disappointed with the manner of his dismissal.
The West Indians got off to a steady start in the morning, Wavell Hinds
blocking Allan Donald away at one end while Gayle attacked at the other.
Gayle scored three centuries in the domestic Busta Cup this year and looked
in supreme touch, one back-foot drive off a near perfect delivery from South
African captain Shaun Pollock rocketing to the mid-off fence.
As Gayle hit out, Hinds dug in to see off Donald. It took only two balls
from Kallis to undo him, though, as one angled across the left-hander took a
faint edge through to Mark Boucher. Hinds gone for just two made off 46
balls.
Ntini struck next, a very quick delivery forcing a grope from Gayle
outside the off stump and a much thicker edge which flew to Daryll Cullinan
at first slip. Gayle made 40 off 70 balls and struck eight thunderous
boundaries.
Marlon Samuels fell to a sucker punch thrown by Kallis and taken on a
glass chin. After a slower bouncer had been hooked to the square-leg
boundary to raucous applause, Kallis followed up with a quicker one two
balls later, Samuels
tried the same shot, but this time it took the splice and looped to Neil
McKenzie at mid-on.