West Indian opener Chris Gayle drives on his way to 69 on the opening day of the fourth and final Test against England at the Antigua Recreation Ground yesterday,
-Dellmar photo
Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
ST. JOHN'S, Antigua:
THE OPENING day of the fourth and final Test of the Cable & Wireless series be-tween the West Indies and England at the Antigua Recreation Ground yesterday was a big disappointment for a full house of fans who turned up for the start of a match they believe, one way or the other, will be full of action.
With England leading the series 3-0, some of the fans, the vast majority of them, were on hand to see their team set the stage for a whitewash, with the West Indies facing their first such embarrassment at home but promising to stand up and fight.
Some were there to see the beginning of a rally, with both teams going for victory, some were present for the opening exchanges in what they hope will be an absorbing contest, and with the West Indies scoring 208 for the loss of two wickets, the disappointment was not the action in the middle - certainly not for those backing the Windies to win and thus rob England of their heart's desire.
DISAPPOINTMENT
The disappointment, even for the members of the 'Barmy Army' who were silenced in the afternoon by some lovely, West Indian-style batting, was that because of rain during the lunch break, play was limited to 52 of the scheduled 90 overs - 25.5 to lunch, and 26.1 after the players returned four hours later at 4.05.
Although the West Indies have started well and have been going well in previous matches in the series before collapsing for low scores, so good were Christopher Gayle - 69 off 80 deliveries, captain Brian Lara - 86 not out off 119 deliveries, and vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan - 41 not out off 72 deliveries, so powerful, so brilliant and so classic were their strokes that the fans who were really disappointed that so few overs were possible were the West Indians who were outnumbered two to one in their own backyard.
After winning the toss and electing to bat on a pitch that appeared a batsman's dream, the West Indies lost Daren Ganga in the 14th over for 10 at 33 for one - the batsman, who so often has flattered only to deceive, falling leg before wicket to pacer Andrew Flintoff after playing a picture-perfect drive through extra-cover off pacer Matthew Hoggard.
The chant of triumph from the English fans did not last long, however.
SURVIVED APPEAL
With the rain clouds hovering above and with Lara taking things easy after surviving an appeal for a catch behind the wicket at zero, Gayle played some magnificent strokes off the front foot and off the back foot, before, playing to mid-on in the last over to lunch, he tapped a return catch to offspinner Gareth Batty and walked away at 98 for three after blasting and stroking 12 boundaries.
In ticking off his 14th half-century in his 41st Test match and his 71st innings, the big left-hander, the bat like a hammer in his hands, treated all the bowlers with scant respect and blasted them to all corners of the ground.
Eleven of Gayle's 12 boundary strokes were perfectly timed - and none more so than five off Flintoff - two each on either side of Ganga's dismissal and one a couple overs later.
One of the two before was a front-foot drive through extra-cover, the other, in the same over, was a back-foot drive to cover; one of the two after was a back-foot punch to point, the other was a front-foot drive wide of mid-off; and although it was a tap rather than a drive, the one later on was so well timed that it surprised captain Michael Vaughan at mid-off who, after taking a step to his left, simply turned and trotted after the ball as it raced away to the boundary.
When play resumed under a clear, blue sky after the long stoppage, Lara, on 17 at the break, was simply magnificent as he changed gear and handed the bowlers, all of them, a caning while stepping past his 44th half-century in his 106th Test match and in his 187th innings and while sharing an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 110 with Sarwan.
With Sarwan playing some elegant drives through the onside and looking good, Lara, in by far his best form of the series, cut, hooked and drove with relish - the best of his 11 boundary strokes, a front-foot drive to long-off off pacer Simon Jones, winning the longest and the loudest cheer of the day.
