West Indian Devon Smith flicks throgh the legside on his way to his maiden Test century yesterday against England. Smith made 108 as the hosts finished the opening day of the series on 311-9.
-Junior Dowie photo
Tony Becca
, Contributing Editor
THE FOUR-MATCH Test series between the West Indies and England got off to a blazing start at Sabina Park yesterday with Devon Smith, the 22-year-old lefthander from Grenada, highlighting an interesting day's play with the first century of the series and the first of his Test career.
At stumps on the first day of the first Test of what promises to be a close and exciting contest for the Wisden Trophy, the West Indies, struggling at the start, were 311 for nine with Smith, the Roy Fredericks look-alike, scoring an impressive 108 and Ryan Hinds, the lefthander from Barbados, chipping in with an also impressive 81.
WONDERFUL CONTEST
In a wonderful contest between bat and ball and before a near full house of appreciative fans, the West Indies, cornered by fast bowlers Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones, were struggling at 101 for four in the 35th over, before Smith, playing in his fifth Test match, and the 23-year-old Hinds, playing also in his fifth, joined forces and rescued them with a brilliant fifth-wicket partnership of 122 before Smith, sweeping at left-arm spinner Ashley Giles, was stumped at 223 for five 36 minutes after tea.
Batting first after winning the toss and electing to bat on an unusually lively Sabina Park pitch that was generously covered with grass and off which the ball bounced appreciably, the West Indies lost Christopher Gayle for five at 17 for one in the sixth over when, to the disappointment of his hometown fans, the big left-hander went back to a sharply rising delivery from the tall Harmison and was bowled off the bat.
Wicket No. 2 fell 17 minutes later at 22 when vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan - the only righthander among the first seven - was leg before wicket to Hoggard playing to leg; wicket No. 3 fell 13 minutes before lunch at 73 for three when captain Brian Lara, after reeling off some promising shots, eased forward to Jones and edged a catch to Andrew Flintoff at second slip; and wicket No. 4 was that of Shivnarine Chanderpaul who, playing back to Hoggard, was bowled off his bat at 101.
Although Smith, hit on the upper arm by pacer Flintoff minutes before Chanderpaul's demise, was then on 52, at that stage the West Indies were in trouble, and with Hinds struggling to find the ball and hit on the helmet by Harmison, the consensus around the ground was that day one would end in England's favour.
GOOD, BRILLIANT
Suddenly, however, as if out of the clear, blue sky, Smith became not only good but also brilliant, Hinds started to stroke the ball confidently and to the delight, not of the army of English supporters, but to the hometown fans, runs started to flow as the pair of lefthanders spanked the England bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Smith, driving off the back foot and off the front foot with ease and cutting a la Fredericks, started the attack with two lovely cuts off Harmison and before he left the scene after facing 188 deliveries and stroking 18 boundaries, his shots, perfectly timed and including a back foot drive off Giles to the cover boundary, a front foot drive off the spinner through extra-cover and the hook that brought up his century, echoed around the park like the lash of a whip.
After an uncertain start, Hinds batted beautifully, played some majestic strokes and looked set to also tick off his maiden century before, like Smith, who also started the match with a top score of 62, he swept at Giles bowling over the wicket and was brilliantly caught by Mark Butcher at backward square-leg at 281 for six after facing 117 deliveries and stroking 12 boundaries.
But for the first one, an inside edge off Hoggard past the offstump, the boundaries were all copybook strokes and none more so than two drives off Jones - one through extra-cover and one to the long-on boundary, a drive through the covers off Hoggard, and a picture perfect front foot drive off Giles to the extra-cover boundary.
A lovely day of cricket ended with Ridley Jacobs playing some lovely strokes and England picking up four wickets for 30 runs to share the honours.
